


That Feeling... That's Me

by spacegirl_kali



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aborted Undertale Genocide Run, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anti-Monster Racism, Blind Frisk, Drinking, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Female Anti-Hero, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gender-Neutral Chara, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Judge Sans, M/M, POV Female Character, POV Original Character, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Sans Remembers Resets, Second-Hand Embarrassment, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Swearing, gaster is dadster, karaoke nights, lots of angst oops sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-06-13 12:01:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15364221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacegirl_kali/pseuds/spacegirl_kali
Summary: After changing her major from business to physics, Avery meets some interesting characters in her science class. Befriending a group of monsters wasn't really in her college plans, but she can't help falling in love with all of them. Well, almost all of them. As much as she enjoys her new friends, Avery notices that something feels... off.(This was originally going to be a Sans/Reader fic, but I despise writing in the second person. You'll love Avery though I promise she's fun.)





	1. I'm Alkynes of Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sans is kind of an ass (but at least he doesn't pour beans on anyone.)
> 
> Meet Avery, the bisexual science bitch. She's excited for her first chemistry class of the semester, until an unfortunate run-in with a certain skeleton monster.

_Please don’t._ Tears burned in the corners of her eyes. She squeezed them shut, trying to hold herself together. _Please don’t cry,_ she thought. Bright red fluid oozed down her front, staining her satin blouse. Her mother had bought it for her, brand new. Now it was ruined. It didn’t matter that she was a sophomore in college, Avery had always worn a new outfit for every first day of classes. It was tradition, even if her friends teased her for it. This year it was a pink blouse from Nordstrom paired with Lucky brand jeans. She looked adorable. Or at least, she had until some dumbass assaulted her with a bottle of ketchup.

Avery blotted her eyes with the scratchy bathroom toilet paper. She grimaced. You’d think with all the tuition money it siphoned from students the university would be able to afford some higher quality bath tissue. When she had finished wiping away any evidence of her crying, Avery straightened what was left of her outfit and stormed out into the hall. Leaning just outside the bathroom doorway, most likely waiting for her, was the reason for her blouse’s demise.

“hey,” he started. “i just wanted to say sor-.”

“Save it.” Avery crossed her arms. “Do you have any idea how much this cost?”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “you know you’re kind of a bitch, right?”

Avery stood frozen. Had he seriously called her a bitch to her face? She opened her mouth to retort but came up with nothing. Instead, she turned on her heel and left cafeteria building. He didn’t try and follow her. Good. The last thing Avery needed was to angry-cry in public. As she walked away, her initial rage began to fade. At least if she ran into him again she wouldn't punch him out of impulse. Now, to address the situation at hand. Avery checked her phone clock. There were about thirty minutes before her lecture started, barely enough time for her to stop by her dorm hall and grab a clean shirt. She began to jog slightly, not wanting to be late _and_ underdressed.

Today was her first science class. Her first real science class; an advanced chemistry course. Avery had entered college as a business major, hoping to get a degree quick and start making bank. However, her pre-med friends had begged her to enroll in the university’s general physics course with them. Since she needed a natural science credit to graduate anyway, she agreed. And she had loved it. She was good at it. Hell, she was great at it. Avery decided after that one class that physics was her true calling, and immediately enrolled herself as a physics major in her university's college of natural sciences. Extra bonus that it pissed her parents off to completely switch colleges after a full year of business classes, too.

 _Ok_ , she thought as she unlocked the door to her room. _I have that blue peplum from last summer or…_ Her train of thought halted as she caught a peek of her reflection in her full-length mirror. This morning she thought she had looked amazing. But now, standing in her ketchup-stained attire, she realized how ridiculous she really looked. Maybe her friends had been right to tease her.

“New year, new major, new tradition,” she murmured, yanking open her t-shirt drawer. Sitting on top was a shirt her brother had picked out for her. After watching their parents yell at Avery for wasting their money by switching majors, he had wanted to do something nice to support her. The shirt was dark purple and read “I’m alkynes of trouble” in white lettering. It featured a drawing of an atom wearing little sunglasses. While she had appreciated her brother’s kindness, Avery had promised herself that she’d never be caught wearing it in public. Good thing she was terrible at keeping promises. And, paired with her Lucky jeans, the shirt actually looked pretty cute in an “I’m trying to be quirky” kind of way.

Alright, she had the outfit down. But there was still her condiment-crusted hair to deal with. Her tightly-wound, blonde curls were coated in the stuff, turning them an unnatural mauve color. With no time to wash it, Avery settled for a messy bun. It matched her t-shirt vibe better, anyway. She glanced at the clock. Ten minutes to lecture.

“Alright, Ave. You look fine. Go to class,” she told her reflection firmly before heading out the door and jogging towards the chemistry building. She arrived with two minutes to spare.

 Avery stood at the back of the hall for a moment, scanning the room. God, there were so many guys. She counted maybe thirty girls in the six-hundred-person class. At least, what she thought were girls. It was a bit difficult to tell, considering the room was about a fifty-fifty mix of humans and monsters. She eyed the back row, before realizing there were no open seats. This is what she got for being late on the first day.

“Old Avery sat in the back of the room,” she whispered, gathering her confidence. “New Avery sits in the front.” Pointedly ignoring the obnoxious stares from some of her male colleagues, she made her way to the front row and took a seat in the center. Avery realized a bit too late that she was the only human sitting in the front. The rest of the seats were filled with various monsters.  _It’s fine, that’s fine_ , she thought. _Definitely not something to freak out over._

“Hello, class.” The professor was a woman. Avery relaxed a bit. There was nothing wrong with most of the male professors, but some of them tended to take their female students a little less seriously, especially in the science department.  It was nice to know at least one class would be void of that bullshit. “My name is Dr. Cassidy,” the professor continued in a strong, commanding tone. Dr. Cassidy was a relatively small woman, with a soft brown bob cut. She wore a navy business suit and pumps. _Smart and fashionable_ , Avery thought to herself with a grin. She was going to get on the professor’s good side fast.

“I always find that the best way to learn is to struggle first, explain later. So we’re going to start out with some sample problems,” she said while writing information on the board. “Assuming what I’ve written up here is true, determine the solubility constant of barium hydroxide octahydrate.”

Oh, this was easy! Avery’s hand was in the air before some of the other students had even picked up their pencils.

“two point six times ten to the negative fourth,” said a deep voice. Dr. Cassidy raised an eyebrow at the blurter.

“That’s correct.” _Oh, that little shit._ He didn’t even use the correct number of significant figures. Avery leaned forward in her seat, hand still in the air, to look at the person, uh, the monster that had stolen her answer. Sitting four seats down from her was none other than the ketchup culprit. No doubt he had spoken over Avery on purpose. He made eye contact with her, a taunting grin on his face. Avery narrowed her eyes.

“Now, can anyone tell me the ionic strength?”

“Four point nine eight times ten to the negative fourth,” Avery answered immediately. “And the activity coefficient is zero point nine six eight.”

Dr. Cassidy eyed Avery suspiciously before chuckling softly. “Very good. I actually wasn’t going to ask the activity coefficient, but it’s good to know you’re thinking ahead.”

Avery felt her cheeks get hot but forced a grin at the original blurter regardless. He had his arms crossed and legs stretched out in a way that was much too flippant for a lecture, that stupid smug look still on his face.

“no need to get competitive, bud,” he said just loud enough to prompt a few snickers from fellow classmates.

So he wanted to banter. No problem, Avery was good at this game. “Mmm, not really anything to compete against, _bud_.” Her eyes landed pointedly on the slippers he was wearing. The monster raised an eyebrow (brow bone?) at her. Before he could retort, Avery raised her hand and asked the professor a question. She had a feeling he wouldn’t say anything with the class’s attention focused on her, and she was right. One point for Avery.

The rest of the lecture continued without incident, to Avery’s relief, and she was able to dip out of the lecture hall before her new nemesis could find her when it was over. She was NOT in the mood to deal with that smug attitude. Breakfast had been cut short by the ketchup incident, and Avery was hangry. She made her way to the nearest dorm’s cafeteria. Normally, she’d make the trek back to her own dorm of DeBord Hall (the sandwich bar was the best on campus), but she was absolutely starving. Plus, she liked Hanbury Hall’s atmosphere more than DeBord’s. Tall windows took up most of the wall space, casting a pleasant, sunny glow over the tables. Avery especially liked popping into the cafe just after lunchtime, when the midday rush cleared and only people left there were the recently awoken, hungover live-ins. It was one in the afternoon and almost all of the cafe’s inhabitants were still in pajamas. Pajamas and… slippers.

“heya.”

Avery didn’t glance up. She had spread papers out on the table she was seated at, and pretended to be absorbed in her work.

“Can I help you?”

“i just wanted to say, uh, sorry. again. for the ketchup thing. and if i stepped on your toes back there.”

Avery chucked, lifting her eyes to look at the skeleton. Maybe it was the fact that she’d finally gotten something in her stomach, or that he was trying to apologize again even after she’d snapped at him, but she wasn’t mad anymore. “Don’t worry about it. I know how it is with lectures, this shit is kill or be killed.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “…yeah. well, anyways, i’m sans. sans the skeleton.”

“The skeleton? And here I was thinking you were Sans the Sandman.”

“the sandman?”

“Yeah, the guy that makes people sleep? Y’know, because of the slippers. I'm Avery, by the way.” Avery smiled cutely.

“yeesh, that’s bad. and let me tell ya, that means something coming from me,” he said, cracking a smile. “anyways, avery, i was gonna ask if you wanted to join me n’ my pals over there. i saw you sittin’ over here and thought you looked awfully _bonely_.” Avery followed Sans’s gaze over to a table of monsters, cringing internally at the sight. Even for monsters, they looked like a real group of misfits. Avery was about to decline when she made eye contact with a particularly burly fish monster. The expression on the monster’s face immediately shifted from menacing to cheerful when she saw Avery was chatting with Sans, and she offered a little wave. She was almost kind of cute. Avery thought on Sans’s offer for a moment. The cafe was practically empty; it was unlikely anyone would see her.

“Y’know, that actually sounds nice, let me just— aw, fuck.” Avery was cut off by her ringtone. “Sorry, just a sec.” Sans shrugged and made his way back over to his friends as Avery answered her phone.

“Hey, Kat.”

“Hey girly, turn around.”

Avery peeked over her shoulder to see a table of girls waving at her. “Oh, hey guys!”

“Is he gone? It looks like he’s gone.”

“Who, Sans?”

“That creepy-ass skeleton. We were about to come and invite you to sit with us, but then he came over. You’re welcome, by the way. Also, what the hell are you wearing? I never thought you’d take the whole new outfit thing in this dir-.”

“Wait, welcome for what?”

“Oh! We called so he’d leave!”

“He wasn’t bothering me; we have class together.” There was a pause on the other end.

“Ave, he’s a skeleton."

Avery grit her teeth. She knew where this was going. “And?”

“Avery, he’s a fucking skeleton. What were we supposed to do? Let him talk to you? Here, just come sit over here with us.”

Avery felt indignation swell in her chest. “Um.”

“AVERY,” Kat hissed.

 _Don’t do something stupid_ , Avery thought to herself. “Actually, I just got invited to sit somewhere else. Maybe next time.” Avery hung up before Kat could say anything else. _Ok_ , she thought. _You did something stupid. You just blew off your friends and now you’re gonna go interact with a bunch of strangers. Monster strangers. This is fine_. She gathered her belongings and her confidence before plastering on a fake smile and making her way over to the table.

“Hi!” squeaked Avery.

“heya. glad you could join us. guys, this is avery.”

“HELLO THERE AVERY, I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS,” boomed a much taller skeleton.

Avery couldn’t help but laugh at the skeleton’s near-shout. “Hello, Great Papyrus!”

“YOU DON’T ACTUALLY HAVE TO CALL ME GREAT, EVEN IF IT IS TRUE. JUST PAPYRUS IS FINE.”

“Alright, Papyrus. I like your style.” He beamed at that. “And who might you be, lovely,” Avery continued, eyeing the kind-of-cute fish monster. Oh jeez, was she seriously flirting with a _fish monster_?

“Hey. Undyne. And this is my girlfriend, Alphys,” she said while gesturing to an odd, lizard-like creature.

 _Girlfriend. Fuck_. Avery hoped that no one had picked up on her flirtatious tone. “Nice to meet you Undyne! You too, Alphys! That’s a cool lab coat.”

“T-thanks!” Aw, she was cute. If Avery couldn’t flirt with Undyne, at least her and her girlfriend made an adorable couple.

“HOW DO YOU KNOW MY BROTHER SANS, AVERY?” Of course they were brothers.

“We actually just met today in class.” Avery decided it was best not to re-hash to ketchup incident at breakfast unless Sans brought it up himself. She didn’t want to come off as bitter.

“i kinda stole her thunder,” he said with a wink.

Alphys giggled. “S-sounds like you, Sans.” Sans shrugged.

“actually, sounds a bit more like paps to me,” he retorted. “guess you’re rubbing off on me, bro.”

“GOOD. IF YOU WANT TO BE ANYWHERE NEAR AS SUCCESSFUL AS I, YOU NEED TO BE MORE ASSERTIVE.”

Avery couldn’t help but crack a smile. They were nice. This was nice. She was stupid to be nervous about talking to monsters. In fact, as the four continued to chat, Avery couldn’t really remember why she was nervous in the first place, until-.

“Hey, Ave.” Before Avery could turn around, she felt something hot and slimy hit the back of her scalp. She brought a shaky hand up to her previously perfect messy bun. Beans. Someone had just poured baked beans on her head.

“What the fuck, Kat.” Avery kept her voice low, not wanting to draw more attention to the scene. The rest of the table sat in silent shock.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kat put her hands to her mouth in mock surprise. “I was only trying to help! I thought if you really wanted to fit in with your new friends, you might as well look like them!”

Undyne slid out of her seat and squared up to Kat in one quick motion. Kat shrunk back as Undyne towered over her. She must be at least six and a half feet tall.

“Get the fuck out of here before I tear you to goddamn pieces,” she growled. Kat nodded slowly and obeyed without another word, eyes wide with fear.   

“sorry,” Sans said after Kat was out of sight. He placed a hand on Avery’s shoulder. “happens a lot. didn’t mean for you to get sucked up into our bullshit.”

“YOUR bullshit?” Avery’s voiced quaked. “You mean HER bullshit. Kat’s always been an ass.”

“Hey, Avery?” Alphys spoke up. “U-Undyne and I actually l-live in this building. Do y-you wanna come u-upstairs and get changed?”

Avery considered this. She didn’t want to impose on them, but she didn’t want to make the trek back to her own dorm hall with old ketchup AND beans in her hair, either.

“Um, yeah. That’d be really great. I mean, if it’s no trouble.”

Undyne offered a hand to Avery. “No trouble at all, punk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently still trying to decide on an average length for chapters. I liked how this one felt, but I'm hoping in the future I can make them a teensy bit longer. We'll see.
> 
> Next update on Wednesday, in which Undyne will talk to us about princesses and Sans and Avery will reveal what happened during ketchup-gate. 
> 
> Follow me on tumblr! @bispacegirl  
> I welcome any and all fanart :)


	2. Fashion Advice from a Killer Robot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we meet several new characters.  
> Smells like Mettaton.
> 
> Next update on 07/29

Avery had to jog a bit to keep up with Undyne’s long strides. Alphys didn’t even try; Undyne just scooped her up as she bounded up the stairs.

“Only one more floor!”

“Isn’t there an elevator?” Avery wheezed. Undyne simply scoffed in response.

“I mean, yeah, if you’re lame I guess.” The three arrived outside the room moments later. Avery tried not to look too out of breath. _Jesus, I’m out of shape,_ she thought. As the three entered the dorm room, Alphys immediately pointed to a clothing hamper near one of the walls.

“Y-you can put your shirt in here. I have a special detergent t-that can take the stain right out.”

“Thank you, Alphys.”

“N-no problem! I n-need to use the restroom.” She disappeared behind the door, leaving Undyne and Avery alone.

“Y’know,” Undyne started. “Being a fish monster is really cool. I can communicate with people in a variety of ways. Verbally, physically, _chemically._ ” She smiled cruelly.

Avery knew she shouldn’t ask, but did anyway. “Chemically?”

“Through pheromones. I don’t know a ton about human signals yet, but I do know you found someone at our lunch table quite attractive.”

Avery blushed. “I, uh-.”

Undyne held her hands up defensively. “Hey, I’m not here to judge. You don’t gotta tell me who it is. Just know that Alphys is mine, punk.” She winked playfully. “Here, this one’s my closet. I doubt Alphys would have anything that’d fit you. You can take whatever you want, but do not touch my armor. I’ll give you some privacy.” She entered the bathroom before Avery could respond. Thank God Undyne hadn’t been able to tell that her little crush was on _her._

Avery moved aside the MANY sets of armor hanging in Undyne’s closet to reveal clothes more suited for daily wear. She sifted through some t-shirts, eventually settling on a black one advertising some band she’d never heard of. After slipping it on, she dropped her soiled chemistry pun shirt into the bin Alphys had pointed out earlier. She could hear them talking through the bathroom door, and considered knocking for a second before deciding to let them finish whatever conversation they were having. Strolling around the dorm, Avery noticed what must be Alphys's closet. Inside was more of her lab clothes and…

“Oh!” Alphys appeared from the bathroom alone. “S-shove that to the back! Undyne can’t see it yet!”

Avery smiled, tucking the pink dress behind the row of lab coats. “I didn’t realize you were so fashionable, Alphys!”

“I-it’s actually not for me! Undyne r-really likes princesses! And Pap-Papyrus throws a Halloween party every year, so I’m working on m-making a costume for her!”

Avery smiled. That was adorable. “I’m honestly kind of shocked Undyne likes princesses. Isn’t Halloween pretty far off, though?”

“Yeah, but I want it to be really special for her!”

Undyne burst through the bathroom door, causing Avery to slam the closet shut out of surprise. “Did I hear you guys were talking about PRINCESSES?” She wore a thousand-watt smile.

“Yes! I was just telling Alphys about, uh, my favorite princess movie!” Avery said, not wanting to ruin Alphys’s surprise. Undyne grabbed her shoulders excitedly.

“There are whole MOVIES about princesses?! I thought they were only in anime!”

Avery gave Alphys a questioning glance, who only blushed and shrugged in response. “Uh, yeah! A lot of them actually!” Undyne looked like she actually might explode.

“That’s SO FREAKING COOL. We should watch one! Tell me about your favorite one, too!”

“Oh!” Luckily for Avery, she’d been a big Disney fan in her youth. “Well, my favorite one is about a young girl named Belle who’s bored of the small town she lives in, so she escapes by reading books. Everyone thinks she’s weird for it but Belle doesn’t really care. One day she meets this giant furry monster who used to be a prince, but he was really mean so a witch cursed him. And Belle starts teaching him and all of his court and servants how to be good people and-.” Avery stopped when she noticed Alphys and Undyne’s expressions. They were looking at her with their jaws wide open.

“Oh my God,” Avery said as she realized her mistake. “That’s like, super offensive to you guys, isn’t it?”

“WHAT?” Undyne shouted. “NOT AT ALL! I LOVE THAT!”

Alphys smiled at Undyne’s obvious excitement. “A-actually, that’s pretty funny. In the Underground, I was p-pretty unhappy, until a human came along.”

“AND I WAS A HUGE BITCH.” Undyne still hadn’t stopped shouting. She looked like she might burst into flames at any moment.

Alphys giggled. “And then Frisk fell down! They taught us about kindness and friendship and being better people!”

“Well in that case,” Avery said, relieved. “We should definitely watch it together sometime. Frisk is the human that freed everyone, right?”

“Yeah!” Undyne’s voice had returned to a somewhat normal caliber. “The little punk’s actually coming over to visit tonight! Sans and Paps are having a party at their house.” She paused for a moment. “You should totally come, Avery!”

“Oh, uh.” Avery considered this for a moment. She didn’t have any other plans for the evening, but she had literally just met these people. These kind, goofy people. Even though she and Sans had started off on a bad foot, after the day’s events Avery had to admit she kind of liked the skeleton brothers. A party at their house was bound to be some sort of crazy fun. Plus, she’d get to meet Frisk, which was basically meeting a celebrity. Even if that celebrity was an 8-year-old.

“Yeah, I’d love to come! As long as I wouldn’t be opposing, of course.”

Undyne scoffed. “You couldn’t impose on the skelebros if you _tried._ I mean, you did meet Papyrus, right? Guy wants to be besties with everyone he meets!”

“I guess that’s settled then! What time should I come around?”

“Paps wants everyone to start getting there at eight. Here, give me your phone number and I’ll text you the address.”

Avery smiled as Undyne snatched her phone out of her hand, furiously pounding on the screen with her thumbs.

“There! See you tonight, punk. Oh, and don’t worry about bringing the shirt, I’ll get it back eventually.”

“Thanks, both of you. You guys rock.” And Avery meant it. Never in her life had she met such open-hearted strangers. She wondered how the surface world hadn’t crushed them yet.

***

Avery arrived at the skelebro’s house at exactly eight-twenty. Arriving twenty minutes late was a rule of college she’d learned her Freshman year; if you arrived right on time, you’d be the first one there. If you waited a full half-an-hour, the booze would run out. Avery stood in the driveway for a moment, just looking at the structure before her. The house was one of the most absurd sights Avery had ever seen. Every other house on the block was white and moderately small. San’s and Papyrus’s house was a comically large log cabin decorated with Christmas lights and fake snow. In the middle of autumn. _Maybe it’s a monster tradition or something,_ she thought as she approached the front door. Inside, she could hear people talking and laughing. Perfect. She wasn’t the first one to arrive. Straightening the black skater dress she was wearing, Avery rang the doorbell.

It was Sans who answered the door. “heya,” he said, looking Avery over. “you really have a knack for over-dressing, huh?”

Avery frowned. “I, uh, what? What do you mean?” Sans pushed the door open wider so she could see inside. There were a total of six people inside, including Sans. The monsters from lunch, plus two humans Avery had yet to meet. They were all wearing jeans except for Undyne, who was in a pair of fish-patterned pajama pants.

“Undyne told me Papyrus was throwing a party! Not… this.” She gestured with her hands at the scene before her.

“heh. paps calls _everything_ a party. he’s, uh, very enthusiastic about his friends.”

Avery sighed. “Well, I’ll just leave my heels at the door I guess,” she said, stepping inside.

“AVERY! WE’RE SO GLAD YOU MADE IT!” Papyrus started to rush over, arms open for an embrace, but he stopped short and frowned. “OH. OH NO. I AM SO SORRY HUMAN.”

“Um, sorry for what?”

“ALPHYS HAS BEEN TEACHING ME HUMAN CUSTOMS. I UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS TRADITION TO WEAR BLACK CLOTHING WHEN ANOTHER HUMAN HAS DIED. HOWEVER! I PROMISE TO CHEER YOU UP AS BEST I CAN, STARTING BY MAKING YOU SOME OF MY DELICIOUS COOKING!” Before Avery could respond, Papyrus rushed into the kitchen while cackling to himself.

Sans snorted. Avery turned to see him almost on the verge of tears with laughter. “oh man. i’ll go talk to him.”

“S-sorry about that,” Alphys said, also giggling. “Papyrus thinks all problems can be solved with spaghetti.”

“Honestly, he’s not wrong,” Avery responded. Alphys and Undyne both giggled at that.

“Hello there.” Avery jumped at the new voice behind her. She turned to see two humans, one obviously Frisk, and the other the speaker, a girl who looked to be around Avery’s age.

“Oh, hey! I’m Avery, nice to meet you!” Avery offered her hand to the older girl. She was tall with light green eyes. A silver chain with a brass locket in the shape of a sunflower hung around her neck. She wore her sleek, dark hair in a high ponytail.

“Jessica. Nice to meet you, too, Avery,” she said while taking Avery’s hand. “This here’s my sibling Frisk.”

Avery smiled warmly. “Hello there, Frisk!”

The child offered their hand to Avery. They were still wearing that same blue-and-pink striped shirt Avery had seen them wear in every interview, along with that tarnished gold locket. Upon shaking hands, Avery realized that Frisk had their eyes closed. In fact, she couldn’t remember ever seeing their eyes on TV, either.

“Do you have green eyes like your sister, Frisk?” Avery crooned.

“No! Mine are blue!” They opened up their eyes wide.

 _Oh._ Now she realized why Frisk kept their eyes closed. Their pale blue irises contained pupils that were completely clouded over. Frisk shut their eyes as quickly as they opened them.

“I keep them shut because the light hurts.”

“I’m sorry, Frisk. I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”

Frisk grinned. “Nope!” They said before marching into the kitchen. Papyrus yelled something about a cooking partner.

“They really need sunglasses.” Jessica stood with her arms crossed, looking over her shoulder into the kitchen. “But Frisk thinks they look funny. Which is irony at its finest, if you ask me.”

“Can they see?”

Jessica shrugged. “Barely. Poor kid. Parents didn’t have a lot of money growing up, so when Frisk was diagnosed with pediatric glaucoma…” Jessica looked down at her shoes. “We just couldn’t afford treatment.”

“That’s really sad. I’m sorry that happened to them.”

Jessica laughed softly. “I was, too. Sorry for them, I mean. But if Frisk hadn’t gone blind, the monsters would still be trapped Underground.”

“It’s true!” Frisk came bounding back in from the kitchen, their mouth now suspiciously covered in crumbs of some sort. “It’s how I fell!”

Jessica looked at Frisk lovingly and placed a hand on their shoulder. “You wanna tell her the story, buttercup?” Frisk nodded enthusiastically. “Hah. Alright. I’ll be over there chatting with Sans.”

Frisk flopped onto the green living room couch, patting the cushion to their left. Avery perched down next to them.

“I had a guide dog,” Frisk started. “A black lab named Bella. She was really cool. Every day after school, we’d go for a walk around the park. Just one lap. I can see shapes pretty good but I have a bad sense of direction. And one day, when we were walking, I suddenly realized that Bella had gotten us lost. Then, while I was trying to call my mom, Bella took off. I think something scared her. I don’t know.” Frisk frowned. “I miss her.”

“I’m sorry, Frisk. I know how hard it is to lose a pet.”

Frisk nodded solemnly. “So, I hung up the phone and sprinted after her. I could see the shapes of the trees, but there were vines all over the ground I couldn’t make out. I tripped on one and fell down this crazy deep hole. I don’t remember hitting the bottom. But when I woke up, I could see!”

“You could?”

“Yeah! Alphys says it’s because of my magic power!”

“You have powers?”

“I-I can explain that.” Alphys, who had been listening in on the conversation, seated herself on Frisk’s other side.

“F-Frisk is very in tune with magic, for a human. We still don’t really know why. When they say they could s-see, they mean with their mind and not their eyes. Y-you see, most monsters see this way, t-too. We can detect each other’s magic and use it as a kind of echolocation. K-kind of. That’s actually a r-really bad analogy.”

“No, I think I get it.”

“O-Oh good! In the Underground, the barrier kept all of our magic c-concentrated in one small area. I-it basically gave Frisk super-vision. It’s how they were able to survive and d-dodge our attacks so easily.”

“Lucky, too,” Undyne interjected. Everyone else in the room was listening now. “I don’t want to think what would have happened if one of us actually succeeded in killing Frisk.”

“yeah.” Sans walked over to Frisk, playfully ruffling their hair. Even though he was smiling, his eyes seemed sad. “that would have been bad.”

“Sometimes I miss it down there. I liked having super-vision.”

Avery patted Frisk’s back. “Well, can you go visit it?”

Frisk opened their eyes again, wide with horror. “No,” they said firmly. “I don’t like it down there without all the monsters. It’s really scary.”

“can’t be any scarier than when there were spooky skeletons roaming around.” Sans winked, and Frisk stuck out their tongue at him.

“You’re not spooky at all!”

“you kidding? i’m the spookiest monster in all the underground! i give humans chills right down to their bones!” Sans tackled Frisk as he finished his pun, tickling them. They screamed and bolted back into the kitchen.

“heh. kid’s a dork.”

“I can’t believe they went through all that.”

Sans took Frisk’s place on the couch. “trust me, you don’t know the half of it.”

Avery was about to ask what he meant by that but was interrupted by a loud crash. Someone had just slammed the front door.

“OH MY GOD. Whose shoes are these?!” Standing by the door was none other than Mettaton, humanity’s first robot superstar, and Avery’s personal idol. And he was holding up her heels. “These are the Saint Laurent Black Opyum 110 Patent Leather Pumps!”

“Oh, those are mine!” Avery hopped up from the couch, smoothing her dress down. She was doing her best not look star-struck, but if anything it was Mettaton who seemed shaken by the interaction.

“Oh, _darling,_ ” he drawled. “Who are you?”

“My name is Avery,” she stuttered, offering him her hand. He took it in his own and bent down to kiss it.

“Avery. Now that is the name of a star!” Mettaton had not yet released Avery’s hand and used it to guide her towards the kitchen. “Come now, will you drink with me, gorgeous? I just have to know more about you.” Avery could practically hear everyone in the room collectively roll their eyes, but she could not care less.

“Yes of course! I-I’m a huge fan of your work, by the way!”

“Isn’t everyone, darling? That dress looks lovely on you, by the way. Next time try a belt with it, you’re hiding your waistline. Trust me.”

Avery was glowing. This night had just gone from good to great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr: @bispacegirl
> 
> If you interact with me in any way I'll probably die from excitement. Just bein' truthful.


	3. What Happened to Bella

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drinking with Mettaton sounded like a good idea, but it probably wasn't. Wine makes Avery just a bit too snuggly.
> 
> Also, sorry for the late update. Had a lot of family stuff happen this past week that made it difficult to find time to write. Next update should be Wednesday, Thursday at the latest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING:
> 
> Animal death  
> Blood mention  
> Suicide mention
> 
> If you want to skip any of this content, search the words: "Papy says it's dinner time!" and that will take you to after all of the above triggers. I'll also provide a quick summary in the end chapter notes for anyone who skipped the beginning.
> 
> And of course, if there are any triggers that I've missed, feel free to comment or message me on tumblr and I will certainly add them.

 “So, darling, tell me _everything_ about you,” Mettaton purred while tracing his finger around the brim of his wine glass. Avery had never been a wine fan; she was more of a craft beer kind of girl. It was a Midwest thing. But Mettaton had insisted that they must drink red wine to gossip. When Avery scrunched up her nose at that, he sighed and poured them some rosé instead.

“Well, I’m a physics major here.”

“Oh my! Beauty _and_ brains. Although I should have expected as much coming from someone with such expert fashion taste.” Avery giggled. Was this guy for real? Despite being the only two people in the dining room, he still spoke like a game show host.

“Well, thank you! What about you, though? I mean, I know you from your albums and TV series, but like, tell me more about you!”

Mettaton’s eyes lit up. He never passed on a chance to brag about himself. “I’m so glad you asked! Lately, I’ve been touring to promote my new self-titled album.”

“Oh! I love that album! I’ve been listening to it all week, actually.”

“Marvelous! Tell me, which track is your favorite?”

“That’s tough, man. I really do like all of them. My two favorites are probably ‘Ghosted’ and ‘Darling, We’ve Only Just Begun.’”

“Ah, both very special songs to me. I’ll have to make sure to end my set with one of them.”

“You should definitely end on ‘Ghosted,’ it’d be such an emotional moment!” Mettaton gasped dramatically before grinning.

“What an interesting take!”

“heh. it’d really be _haunting_ if you did that,” Sans’s voice echoed from the living room. Mettaton sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“As much as I love visiting Dr. Alphys, hanging around _them_ is a lot of work.” Avery cocked her head to the side. Had he just said Dr. Alphys? How could she be a doctor when she was still finishing her undergrad? Maybe Mettaton just used it as a term of endearment. Avery decided not to ask.

“So how do you know Alphys?” It did strike Avery as odd that the two were friends, considering how different they were.

"Now THAT’S a great question! Back in the Underground, she was the only other person who shared a deep appreciation for the culture of humanity like I did. We formed a human appreciation club, just the two of us.”

“That’s adorable.”

Mettaton smiled wider. “Isn’t it? Well, one day, after we had become great friends, Alphys made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. You see, Avery dear, I’m not actually a robot. I’m a ghost!”

“Oh! So did Alphys like build a robot body for you?”

“Precisely! The first model was tragic, visually, but THIS one.” He extended his leg out in front of him. “Truly captures who I am.”

Avery laughed. “It absolutely does.”

Mettaton nodded. “Right now, she’s working on a body for my cousin, Blooky. I have no idea what it’s going to look like, but Blooky seems pretty excited over it. And that’s saying something, Blooky doesn’t usually get excited over ANYTHING.” That was funny coming from Mettaton. He and his cousin must be polar opposites, considering Mettaton seemed to be excited by everything.

“So uh, weird question, but you’re a ghost of a what? Not a human, I presume.”

Mettaton shrugged and looked down into his wine. “Not really how that works, darling. I’ve always been a ghost.”

“Oh.” For the first time since Avery had met Mettaton, there was silence. She hoped she hadn’t accidentally offended him. Luckily, the tension broke when Jessica and Sans entered the room, chatting.

“Thank you again, for taking them,” Jessica was saying. “Toriel’s at her wits end with the school and I just really need a break.”

“’s no problem at all, jess. we love havin’ frisk around.” Sans poured himself a glass of wine. Mettaton huffed at him but was ignored.

“Well, I better head out. Good to see you, Sans. You, too, Mett.” Mettaton perked up at his nickname. "And it was nice to meet you, Avery. I'm sure I'll see you around."

"I'm sure you will!"

“Don’t be a stranger,” Mettaton said while rising to give Jessica a hug. “We’re all here for you and Frisk, whatever you two need.”

Jessica nodded but left without another word. Mettaton sighed and returned to his seat next to Avery. Sans plopped down across the table. They both seemed sad. Avery watched as they exchanged pitiful glances.

“So… I can’t help but feel like there’s more to the story here. Why’s Frisk staying with you guys? And who’s Toriel?” Her question was met with awkward silence. Eventually, Sans spoke up.

“they’re orphans, frisk and jessica. and they shouldn’t be.” He looked up to meet Avery’s eyes. She motioned for him to continue. “jess told me that right after frisk disappeared, cops found their dog. it was torn to bloody pieces.”

Avery’s eyes went wide. “Did an animal get it? What predators even live on Ebott?”

Sans shook his head. “definitely not an animal. knife marks. someone stabbed it to death.”

"Jesus.”

“so, obviously, everyone assumed the worst. murdered dog, missin’ kid. never a good combo. it tore their parents up.”

“Oh, God, don’t tell me what I think you’re gonna tell me.”

“they blamed themselves. one night, i guess they couldn’t take it anymore. double-suicide.” He took a deep breath. “exactly one hour after frisk tore down the barrier. it took us an hour and a half to make it to town.”

“Fuck. So if they had made it just a few hours sooner…”

“yeah. frisk doesn’t know. jess puts on a tough face, but i know she blames herself a little. she was living in the dorms at the time, wasn’t there to try and stop them.”

“That’s the most awful thing I’ve ever heard.” More silence.

Mettaton spoke up now. “Toriel is the former Queen of Monsters. She’s a goat monster that took care of Frisk for a while in the Underground. A real sweetheart, that one. She’s basically Frisk’s foster mom.”

Sans nodded. “she’s also an elementary school teacher. sometimes paps and i have the kid over for a few nights to give ‘er a break. which is fine, kid’s fun to be around.” The corners of his mouth twitched up at that. Avery could tell from how they spoke that they all really loved Frisk. Who had just come bounding in from the kitchen and tackled Sans.

“Papy says it’s dinner time!”

“’s that so? well, let’s not just sit around and _taco-bout it_.” Sans scoops Frisk up with such ease that Avery raises her eyebrows in surprise. She had no idea how someone with no muscles could have that strength. Mettaton pours himself another glass of rosé before offering the bottle to Avery. Normally, she’d stop after the two glasses she’d already had, but after _that_ conversation, she accepted a third. She held up her glass to Mettaton, who laughed and returned her cheers.

“I think we’re going to be great friends, darling.”

“I think so, too.”

Dinner was an absolutely delicious lasagna made by Papyrus with a small bit of help from Frisk. Avery always loved eating monster food; it tasted like regular pasta but made her body feel light and bubbly.

“Papyrus, this is absolutely amazing!”

He beamed. “THANK YOU, AVERY! IT TOOK ME A BIT TO WARM UP TO THE IDEA OF FLAT SPAGHETTI, BUT NOW I BELIEVE IT IS QUITE ENJOYABLE!”

Avery shot a glance at Sans and raised an eyebrow.

“heh. paps used to only know how to make spaghetti. undyne taught ‘em how. it, uh, sorry paps, wasn’t great. once we hit the surface, the queen paid for real cooking lessons for him.” Avery laughed internally. She couldn’t imagine Undyne giving anyone cooking lessons. She just seemed too excitable for such a patient task.

“AND I CAN NEVER TRULY THANK HER ENOUGH FOR THAT. WITHOUT THOSE LESSONS. I SURELY WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ABLE TO REACH MY PEAK GREATNESS!”

“now we’re tryna get him a chef job somewhere. lotta places won’t hire monsters, though.”

Avery frowned. “That’s terrible! I feel like that’s illegal.”

Sans shrugged. “lotta people refuse to eat food prepared by a monster. especially if magic is used. businesses don’t want to deal with that, so they don’t hire.”

“BUT WORRY NOT! METTATON HAS PROMISED TO HIRE ME ONCE HE FINISHES BUILDING THE MTT RESTAURANT!”

Mettaton grinned. “You’ll make a fabulous head chef. People love your enthusiasm.” Papyrus blushed orange at the compliment and, for some reason, Sans shot Mettaton a glare.

“anyways,” Sans said before Papyrus could respond. “what’s the plan after we eat?”

“I wanna watch a movie!” Yelled Frisk. Avery scrunched her forehead in confusion. She knew Frisk said they could see shapes, but a movie still seemed like a stretch. Fortunately, Alphys noticed Avery’s expression and leaned to whisper in her ear.

“I-I infused our television with a special type of magic, so Frisk can see it. They a-always want to watch movies here now, b-because it’s the only place they c-can.” Avery gave her a warm smile.

“Wow, Alphys, that’s really sweet of you to do that for them.” Alphys blushed at the compliment and made a dismissive gesture with her claw. “Oh, I know!” Avery announced to the rest of the group. “Undyne, we can watch that movie I was telling you and Alphys about earlier!”

Undyne clasped her hands together in agreement. “Hell yeah! That sounds perfect!”

And so it was settled. Avery pulled up "Beauty and the Beast" on her streaming service (the original, mind you, none of the live action nonsense) while everyone got comfortable. Mettaton offered her a fourth glass of wine, which she probably should’ve said no to, but drank anyway. She didn’t have class in the morning so it was fine if she woke up a teensy bit hungover. Once the movie was playing, Avery turned towards the couch. The scene laid out before her was absolutely adorable. Mettaton sat on the floor, leaning against the back of the couch and sipping even more wine (Avery began to wonder if the robot could actually even get drunk.) Next to him were Alphys and Undyne, chatting giddily about how excited they were to see the “super-hot boss monster" the movie was about. Papyrus sat on the couch petting Frisk’s hair gently, who was snuggled up in his lap. And next to him was Sans, sitting by himself. The skeleton brothers were both pretty large creatures; Papyrus was just around seven and a half feet tall, and his brother close to six. They took up the majority of the couch space, and Avery supposed she should also take a seat on the floor. But those four glasses of wine in her system made her bold and… cuddly. She squeezed herself between the armrest and Sans, who looked at her in surprise.

“’S this ok?” She was slurring her words now. Classy.

“uh, yeah, but you don’t look too comfortable.”

Avery took this as her opportunity to shimmy under Sans’s arm and rest her head on his shoulder. He was surprisingly squishy in a way Avery’s drunk mind couldn’t process. She’d ask about it when she was sober. Or maybe she’d be too embarrassed to. She’d literally known the guy for a single, chaotic day and here she was. Already making a drunken fool out of herself. _Oh well,_ she thought. If he was really uncomfortable with the situation, he wouldn’t be wrapping his hand around her waist the way he was. Or leaning into her. Or blushing. Avery couldn’t help but giggle.

“what?”

“Nothin’,” she said as she closed her eyes. “You’re jus’ comfy.”

“heh. i do my best.” Avery would’ve responded, had she not dozed off. Sans looked at the girl sleeping curled up against him and smiled, before closing his eyes himself.

           

* * *

Avery awoke to the scent of something sweet filling the air. Something that smelled like berries and sugar, and her stomach let out a loud growl. She opened her eyes and saw a ceiling that was not the one of her dorm room, and sat up to find she was lying on a couch underneath a nest of blankets. Not only that, but she was in clothes that were not hers. _Oh fuck._ How was she wearing someone else’s clothes? There was _no way_ she’d slept with someone last night. That robot was definitely into guys, Alphys and Undyne were together, Papyrus had been with the kid, and Sans… Avery blinked slowly. No. She hadn’t slept with Sans. Well, at least not sexually. She let out a sigh of relief as her memories returned to her. Everyone had dozed off while watching the movie until Frisk had woken up around one in the morning. It was late and she was still a little drunk, so Sans offered Avery the couch and some sweats to sleep in until morning. Phew.

“mornin’, sunshine.” Sans had entered from the kitchen wearing his usual attire, but with an apron draped over himself and oven mitts on his hands. “sleep ok?”

“Yeah, I sure did. Thank you, by the way. For not kicking me out and letting me borrow some clothes.”

He smiled. “’s no problem. you were, uh, in no shape to drive home.”

Avery grimaced. She recalled her episode with Sans, and had a feeling it wasn’t something she’d live down. “Oh, uh. I’m sorry about that. Mettaton practically poured a whole bottle of wine down my throat and I, uh, get snuggly.”

Sans immediately flushed bright blue. He was awfully easy to fluster for such a smug guy. “oh! i wasn’t even talkin’ about that. just that i woulda worried ‘bout you tryna drive.” He shifted uncomfortably for a moment, trying to decide what to say next. Avery relieved him of this by changing the topic.

“Are you baking something?”

His eye lights lit up. “yeah! i’m makin’ a pie. or, as paps likes to call it, a ‘sugar quiche.’”

Avery snorted. “No way he actually calls them that.” Sans nodded eagerly to indicate that he indeed called them that. “That’s hilarious. Undyne must be a terrible cooking teacher.”

“she has her strong suits, but cookin’ ain’t one of’ em.”

Avery’s snickers grew louder at that. “Well, I’ll get out of your hair. Thanks again for everything, I had a really good time last night.”

“good times ‘r my specialty. you wanna stick around for a sec while i finish this pie? it’s apple cinnamon.”

“Normally, I’d love to. But that wine from last night isn’t sitting too well with me. I think I’ll be having seltzer water instead of pie today.” Sans simply nods in response before retreating back into the kitchen. Avery stretched and stood up as Sans returned with her dress, which had been folded into a neat square by (she assumed) Papyrus.

“Ah, thank you.”

“so i’ll, uh, see ya around?”

“Of course. I’ll see you in-.” Avery’s eyes suddenly went wide. “Shit. We have that exam tomorrow.”

“fuck. you’re right.”

“Well, now I REALLY need to go. See you around, Sans.”

“see ya, ave.” Avery turned to the door to hide her blush at his casual use of her nickname. _Avery, no,_ she thought. _You are NOT allowed to have a stupid crush on a stupid skeleton monster._

As Avery reached her car and began driving, her cell phone rang. It was her mother. Ugh.

“Hello?” She used her shoulder to pin the phone to her ear while still keeping two hands on the wheel.

“I have a lot of questions to ask you. Actually, just one question. Why was I shown a video of a monster attacking a human while you STOOD BEHIND THEM?” Avery flinched as her mother raised her voice. She realized she must have been talking about the bean incident from yesterday.

“She was protecting me, mom.”

“Protecting you!? IT was antagonizing an innocent human!”

“Mom, that’s not what-.“

“Avery, I do not care what happened. Do you understand how bad it looks for MY daughter to be socializing with those _things?”_ She spat.

Avery sighed heavily. She knew this would be coming, she just didn’t expect it so soon. Her mother headed an organization referred to as HUMAN, otherwise known as the Humans Unite against Monster ANtagonists. When her mother and her groupies had originally come up the stupid name Avery had laughed. It was so obvious how hard they had tried to make HUMAN work. Avery frowned to herself as her mother continued to shout in her ear. She would have to come clean to the monster gang as soon as possible. Hearing from someone else that Avery was related to the head of the monster equivalent of the KKK would probably get her kicked out of the group instantly, if not worse.

“Mom, I have to go,” she said dryly, cutting off her mother’s ranting. She heard her mother's flustered noises on the other end of the line.

“Well, just know that if you continue acting in this manner, you WILL be hearing from your father and I and we WILL pull you out of school.”

Avery’s stomach turned at the threat. It was a threat they’d used before, and Avery knew it was not empty. If she really wanted to step out from under her parents, she was going to need to start saving up tuition money.

“Understood. Goodbye, Mom.”

“Goodbye.” _Click._ That’s how it had been ever since Avery had made it clear that she did not share her parent’s racism. No more “I love you”s, no more pet names. Just yelling and threats. Not that Avery cared too much, her parents had been closet racists long before the barrier was broken. The only difference now was that they didn’t have to hide it. Either way, Avery had accepted her parents weren’t good people a long time ago.

Avery reached the campus parking lot, which her dorm was thankfully not too far from. She used the walk to her room to try and clear her head of negative thoughts. They would just impede her studying. When she finally reached the building and finished her ascent up the stairway to her room, she immediately entered the community bathrooms to shower. Only then did she become very aware that she was wearing Sans’s clothes. It was a shame she had to take them off. They smelled… nice, in a kind of odd way. It was a scent that reminded her of old books mixed with the smell of baking something sweet. Very homey. After she finished showering, Avery decided to put the hoodie back on. _It’s not weird,_ she thought to herself. _I don’t own a hoodie this comfortable._

Avery picked up her phone and was surprised that she had incurred several messages from an unknown number while she had been bathing.

**XXX-XXXX:**

heya. it’s sans. swiped your number from undyne.

**XXX-XXXX:**

            i’m plannin on spendin the day in the campus library’s coffee shop studyin for this exam tomorrow.

**XXX-XXXX:**

if u wanna join me, i mean.

            Avery stared at the messages for a second, trying to figure out why they looked so odd. When she figured it out, she choked on her own laughter. The idiot had changed his texting font to comic sans. How, Avery had no idea. But she immediately knew what to save his contact name as.

**Avery:**

Sounds good. I’ll be over in a few.

**Comic:**

see ya soon.

            Avery tugged the hood of San's sweatshirt over her head, ignoring the heat in her cheeks as she headed out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Notes for those who skipped the beginning: Frisk and Jessica are orphans. Avery doesn't understand why Mettaton calls Alphys "Dr." Alphys is working on a robot body for Blooky. And that's about all you missed!
> 
> Next chapter: Sans and Avery have a coffee... date? Meeting? Who knows. This IS supposed to be a slow burn.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr! @bispacegirl


	4. Darker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avery and Sans study for their chemistry exam. Some magic is used.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little bit of a shorter chapter than I had hoped, but the next few chapters should be a bit beefier. 
> 
> Next update will be this weekend. :)

It took Avery a minute to find Sans in the campus coffee shop. It wasn’t crowded since most classes didn’t have exams until the next week. He just looked different with the pair of brown Wayfarer glasses he had on. Somehow, despite the fact that they were being held on to his skull with tape, he managed to make them look sophisticated. A descriptor Avery hadn’t thought she’d ever use for Sans. He gave Avery a small wave when he noticed her approaching, and she took a seat in the booth across from him.

 

“Nice glasses. Didn’t realize someone could have eye problems without eyes, though,” said Avery as she began to spread her notes out on the table.

 

“they’re magic-infused; skeleton eyes weren’t really meant for reading. and you’re right, human glasses don’t work on people without eyes.”

 

“Well, they look good on you.”

 

He grinned. “thanks, ave.” There was that nickname again. “i grabbed you a coffee, ‘n case you showed up. should still be hot.” Oh, that was sweet.

 

“Hey, thanks!” Sans handed Avery the mug. A caramel macchiato. Her favorite. Avery glanced up in confusion.

 

“How did you…?”

 

“let’s just say i’m real good at reading people. try it, i added something special for ya.”

 

Avery shrugged and took a sip. The familiar feeling of magic bubbled through her, causing her to gasp slightly in surprise. She felt it work up to her head, a calming sensation flowing within her.

 

“Oh wow.”

 

“cyan magic. should help you focus and keep ya from getting’ too stressed. you are here to study, right?”

 

She huffed and took her head in her hands. “Yes, although I don’t really know where to start. There’s so much information to go through that I feel a little lost.” Sans held up a finger while he flipped through pages in the notebook he’d been writing in.

 

“here.” He pushed the notebook towards Avery, whose jaw dropped. The pages in front of her contained the most neatly written, well-organized notes Avery had ever laid eyes on. Sans’s handwriting almost looked like it had been typed, save for a few stray eraser marks.

 

“This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” She fingered through a few of the pages. Not only were his notes pretty, they were thorough. Every formula from the class was accounted for, each one explained with absolute accuracy.

 

“thanks. organizing notes kinda calms me. paps yells at me to transfer that skill to organizing the house, but this requires much less moving.”

 

“Yeah, I get that. I hate cleaning, too. Thank you for sharing these with me. My notetaking skills are, ah, below average, to put it nicely.” Sans motioned for Avery to pass him her notebook. She complied, although she was a bit embarrassed at what he’d find. Her pages were littered with stray equations stuck between doodles and shotty explanations. She shrunk a little when she saw that smug grin of his return as he thumbed through the pages.

 

“wow, ave. you really weren’t kidding. these notes are _tear-able.”_

 

“Thanks for considering my feelings, Sans.” She squinted as she replayed his words in her head. “Wait… was that a pun?” He grinned.

 

“heh heh heh. here, try heading the page with a formula and use the rest of the room for examples. and if you really get the urge to doodle, use the margins. sometimes when i want to do that i’ll try and relate the drawing to what i’m studying.” He said all this while writing up a mock set-up on the back of one of the pages. Avery studied the focused expression on his face. He did really like doing this, she could tell.

 

“That looks a ton better. Thanks, Sans.”

 

“no problem. you’re not the worst i’ve seen. dr. alphys’ notes were complete chicken scratch before i taught her the art of good notetaking.” He had called her Dr. Alphys, just like Mettaton had. So it definitely wasn’t just a cute pet name.

 

“Mettaton called Alphys ‘Dr,’ too. Why is that?”

 

Sans scowled into his cup of coffee. “old habit, i guess. we all had degrees in the underground. alphys and i were both phds.”

 

“I’m sorry, WHAT? Why are you in school then?” Avery had been able to tell Sans was a smart guy, but jeez.

 

“when monsters hit the surface, the government didn’t really have a way to gauge the value of our underground education, so they just left it up to employers to decide what qualifications monsters needed. Almost everyone decided that monster degrees were null, so we’re back here to basically re-prove that we know what we’re doing.”

 

“That absolutely blows. Couldn’t they have a found an easier way to validate you guys? Like, making you go through school again seems really extreme.”

 

“yeah.” They were both silent for a moment. Avery took a sip of her coffee.

 

“So, what was your Ph.D. in?”

 

He perked up a little at the question, sour expression melting off of his face. “astrophysics. i’ve always had a thing for the stars.”

 

“Astrophysics? Even though you were Underground?”

 

He shrugged. “thinking about what was going on up there gave me hope. i guess i felt like if i knew everything about the stars and how everything in space worked, i was just a little closer to it all.” _Oh wow._ Avery had never considered how dreary the monster gang’s past must be. Trapped underground for so long… Avery’s eyes went wide. She realized she had no idea exactly how long that they had been trapped down there.

 

“Hey, Sans?”

 

“hm?”

 

“I, uh, just realized I don’t know how old you all are. Since you’re not typical undergrad students.”

 

“well, monsters don’t age the same way humans do. in fact, monsters don’t age in any uniform fashion. mentally, we’re probably around the same as you. but, uh, in human years we’re pretty old.”

 

“How old?”

 

“if we’re being completely honest, i have no idea. when we were trapped underground, the days just kinda ran together. really messed up my sense of time.”

 

“Sounds like the Underground kinda blew, huh?”

 

“heh. wasn’t so bad. especially after frisk came around. they first day they were in town, papyrus couldn’t stop smiling. even though we both knew that the kid was gonna have to make some tough decisions.” He paused for a second. “anyway, ‘s it ok if i change the subject to something a little lighter?”

 

“Of course!”

 

“paps is throwin’ a Halloween party in a few weeks and asked me to invite you. it’ll be an actual party this time, too.”

 

“Papyrus wanted you to ask me? YOU wouldn’t have invited me yourself?” Avery leaned in a bit to smile in his face. She sat back in triumph when his cheeks dusted light blue again.

 

“i mean, i, um, he did but, uh, that doesn’t mean i don’t want you to come, too.” Hearing him stutter made Avery smile even wider. She was definitely planning on abusing her power to fluster him.

 

“I’m just teasin’ ya, Sans. Of course I’ll come.” Relief flushed across his face.

 

“glad to hear it. by the way, it’s a costume party.”

 

“I think I knew that, actually. Alphys was telling me about a costume she was making to surprise Undyne with. Some sort of princess dress. It’s funny, I was thinking about how unfitting that was for her when I first saw it. But after watching that movie last night I totally get it. Alphys really hit the nail on the head.”

 

“heh. those two are cute.”

 

“Sure are.”

 

“didn’t always used to be. they had this super annoying mutual-pinning vibe for a really long time before frisk tricked them into confessing their feelings for each other.”

 

“How the heck did Frisk manage _that?_ ”

 

“went on a fake date with Alphys and got her to say she liked Undyne while Undyne was standing in earshot. i guess papyrus was involved somehow too? all i know is that they’ve been inseparable ever since.”

 

“That’s really sweet.”

 

“sure is.”

 

The next two hours were filled with comfortable silence, peppered with the occasional science question or notetaking tip. Normally, Avery had trouble staying on task for more than twenty minutes at a time, but that magic coffee Sans had given her filled her with a strong sense of patience and focus. Still, Avery peeked up from her work every so often to watch Sans write. There was something fascinating about him and the way he studied. He looked so enamored with a subject that Avery figured he already knew a lot about. His notebook must be filled with information he’d already committed to memory, yet he still acted like every textbook page he read contained the most exciting material on the planet. Maybe chemistry hadn’t been something he focused too much on in the Underground, but Avery had a feeling it was something more than that. He acted like at any moment, someone was going to take it all away. Like he had to memorize every word before the textbook blew up in his face. After a few minutes of watching him write, Avery realized his notetaking had gone from calm and collected to frantic. His pristine handwriting grew sloppier while a few beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.

 

“Hey, Sans?”

 

He jumped at the sound of her voice. “huh? what’s up?”

 

Avery paused for a moment, trying to decide on her words. “Just, uh, are you alright? You look a little stressed.”

 

“oh. yeah, i’m ok. sometimes studying makes me feel like i’m researching again.”

 

“Researching?”

 

He sat back in the booth and dropped his pen on the table with a huff. “yeah. for a while in the underground, i was part of a team researching ways to get past the barrier.”

 

“That sounds really cool!”

 

Sans grimaced. “trust me, it wasn’t. we all knew that what we were trying to do was impossible. nobody had any hope of success. we lost our head scientist after he went a bit mad from the stress of it all. after that, no one wanted to touch his work. we wasted years of research and it seemed like there was no point in starting over. at least, until alphys took over.”

 

“Alphys was a head scientist?”

 

Sans nodded. “she got the closest to taking down the barrier out of anyone. actually, now that i think about it, frisk wouldn’t have been able to break it without her. you know the story, right?”

 

“I think so. The King had six souls, and then Frisk found a way to unite all the monster souls in the Underground to form something as strong as a seventh human soul.”

 

“basically. there’s a little more to it than that, but the important part is that the vessel that absorbed the souls was actually something that dr. alphys created. it was written off as a failed experiment at first, but without it we would still be down there.”

 

“That’s amazing! So you helped her with that?”

 

Sans shook his head no. “the stuff i worked on had nothing to do with soul power. it was… darker. i’d rather not get into it, honestly.”

 

Darker. That was an odd word to choose. The curious part of Avery desperately wanted to push him for more information, but the little beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead were multiplying. She decided to be patient and leave it alone for the time being. The conversation seemed to really be stressing him out.

 

“Hey, did you figure out how to do the titration curve problem?” Sans let out a relieved sigh at the change in conversation topic.

 

“yeah. here, i can show you.” He leaned over to write on her paper but stopped abruptly, eyeing her.

 

“Something wrong?”

 

“are you still wearing my hoodie?” Now it was Avery’s turn to blush. She had forgotten her outfit choice.

 

“Oh, yeah.” She laughed nervously. “I was cold and I don’t have my fall clothes at school yet.” That seemed like a reasonable response, one good enough to warrant him letting it go. But she should have guessed Sans was not the type to let things go.

 

“awwww, that’s adorable.” His tone was taunting, but Avery could tell that there was friendliness in his expression.

 

“Hey, do you wanna take a break?” She said quickly before Sans could probe about the hoodie any further. “My hand’s so cramped from writing I can hardly hold a pencil.”

 

“yeah, sure. but just so you know, skeleton hands can’t actually get cramped.”

 

“Whoa, actually? Do you experience any kind of muscle soreness?” Avery paused while Sans just sort of looked at her. “Right. Bad wording. But you know what I mean.”

 

“Monsters can feel fatigue from magic use, but we don’t have physical forms in the same way humans do. Even fleshy monsters.”

 

“That’s wild. Being a monster sounds way cooler than being a human.”

 

Sans shrugged. “Sometimes. But we also can’t heal the same way humans can. Once we’re done, we’re done. Humans can recover.”

 

“Jeez.”

 

“but hey, now that we’re on the surface there’s way less fighting, save for a few racists here and there. monster fatalities have dropped like a hundred and seventy percent since we got here.”

Avery swallowed a lump in her throat. She really needed to tell him about her parents at some point. But before she could open her mouth to speak, Sans slide out of the booth and offered her his hand. Avery let him help her up with a nervous grin. She could deal with this later when they knew each other a little better. Patience.

 

“paps just texted me he’s making lunch at the house. you wanna stop by?”

 

“Yeah, that sounds really nice. I can drive us if you’d like.”

 

“perfect. hope you’re in the mood for more pasta.”


	5. Red Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone has a great time and absolutely nothing bad happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Due to life, I think I'm going to switch from posting two shorter chapters a week to one longer chapter a week. I'm finally happy with the length of this chapter, and I think even if it takes me a little longer it makes for a better read. Hope you guys agree!

**Undyne:**

            What are you going as?

 

Avery groaned and flopped down on her bed. This is what she gets for procrastinating.

 

**Avery:**

If we’re being completely honest, I haven’t even thought about it yet.

**Undyne:**

AVERY THE PARTY IS TOMORROW.

**Avery:**

I KNOW.

 

No matter the conversation topic, Avery and Undyne always ended up texting in caps lock. Usually because Avery did something stupid, like forgetting to buy a costume for Papyrus’s Halloween party.

 

**Undyne:**

Sans invited you weeks ago girl. You had so much time.

**Avery:**

Pls stop shaming me.

**Undyne:**

-_-

**Avery:**

Don’t neutral face me I already got that from Frisk.

 

Instead of another snarky reply from Undyne popping up, Avery’s phone began to ring. She smiled when the caller’s contact photo popped up.

 

“Helloooooo, darling!” She cooed into the phone.

 

“Helloooooo, sweetheart!” Sang a robotic voice in reply.

 

“How are you, Mettaton?”

 

“I am-.” From the background, Avery could hear a brief struggle and the sound of Undyne trying to yell into the receiver. “We’re going shopping, punk!”

 

Mettaton laughed in his theatrical way. “Undyne has informed me that you are in the midst of a fashion _emergency!_ ”

 

“I am?”

 

“Yes, darling! I don’t know if you’re aware, but Papyrus’s Halloween party is _the_ event of the year.”

 

Avery chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Mett, I just don’t believe that. Papyrus thinks having a few people over for breakfast constitutes a party.”

 

“I promise you it’s true, love. Back in the Underground, every monster from Snowdin to Hotland would attend. Even though we’re on the surface now, a lot of monsters are going to be there. It’s an event with sentimental value. I bet even a few humans will show up.”

 

“Alright, alright. So what’s the plan?”

 

“Well it’s supposed to be a surprise, but for you, darling, I’ll make an exception. You know about the restaurant I’m opening, correct?”

 

“Of course!”

 

“The big secret is that it won’t just be a restaurant. It will be the MTT Dining and Shopping Plaza!”

 

“You’re opening a mall?”

 

Mettaton scoffed. “It will be so much more than just a mall, but yes. I am opening a shopping center. Construction and set-up are complete, and the big unveiling will be in two weeks. However, I was thinking we could pay an early visit to help you solve your costume dilemma. Are you in, darling?”

 

“Are you serious? You’re taking me to an unopened MTT shopping center. Of _course_ I’m in, Mettaton!”

 

“Fabulous! Undyne, Alphys, and I will be at your place ASAP!”

 

Avery hung up the phone and squealed. Shopping was one of her all-time favorite activities, and Halloween her favorite holiday. Usually, Avery would have three different costumes picked out by now, in case she got invited to more than one party. She was not a costume repeater. But between school and her nagging parents, Avery hadn’t had any mental energy left over to focus on frivolous things. She groaned. Avery was going to have to come clean about her parents sooner or later. Her mother had hinted that the organization was about to do something big, something that could out Avery as a child of anti-monster racists. Today was not going to be that day, Avery decided. Maybe after the day of the party or sometime next week she’d sit everyone down and talk about it. But today Avery was determined to have a good time. This was probably one of her last chances to spend some quality time with Mettaton. He was leaving for the next leg of his tour two days after the Halloween party, and Avery had grown rather attached to the glittery asshole. She would never admit it to his face, but Mettaton had probably become her closest friend within the monster gang.

 

It only took about two minutes for the three to arrive at Avery’s dorm in Mettaton’s ridiculous car. Every time he pulled up in that mirrored pink range rover of his, Avery half expected him to lean out the window and yell ‘get in loser we’re going shopping.’

 

“Get in loser, we’re going shopping!”

 

“I am disappointed by the fact that I’m not surprised you said that.” Avery said as she scooted into the passenger seat. She craned her neck around to say hi to Undyne and Alphys in the back. “Hey guys!”

 

“H-hey Avery!”

 

“’Sup, punk. Excited?”

 

“Hell yeah!”

 

Mettaton placed one hand on Avery’s shoulders, keeping the other on the wheel as he pulled away from the dorm. “Ok, darling. Let’s get right down to business. Do you have ANY ideas for a costume?”

 

“Honestly? I have no clue.”

 

“W-well, we could brainstorm,” Alphys offered.

 

“Nonsense,” Mettaton cut in. “We’ll shop until something strikes your fancy, and then build a marvelous ensemble for you around it!”

 

“Yeah,” Undyne cut in. “Let passion determine your costume!”

 

Avery laughed. “Well, I don’t have any better ideas. Let’s do that.”

 

The drive to the mall was a long one. Mettaton had wanted to keep it out of the suburban area to stifle any rumors, but made it very clear that once unveiled the place would be impossible to miss. The group chatted idly in the car, with Undyne and Mettaton doing most of the talking. Undyne revealed that she didn’t really use to like Mettaton all that much, until Alphys showed her the weaponry she’d installed in him.

 

“I mean, I know he doesn’t look it, but he could blow up half this town!” Undyne’s eyes grew wide with her words.

 

“Oh, _Ondine,_ you flatter me.” Mettaton had taken to calling Undyne “Ondine,” after the Paracelsian water sprite. It was actually quite fitting for her. Despite her gruff attitude, Avery still found Undyne rather enchanting to look at. Many monsters looked vaguely like surface animals, and Undyne was no different. But something about her was unique. She looked otherworldly, with the way her teal scales reflected the sunlight streaming through the car window. Avery faced forward abruptly, heat rising in her cheeks. She hoped she wasn’t emitting any attraction pheromones.

 

“Anytime, Daft Punk.” Undyne’s nickname for Mettaton wasn’t nearly as sweet, but it was pretty impressive how she still found a way to include the word “punk” in it.

 

“W-whoa, is that it?” Alphys pointed out the window. To the left of the car was a giant fortress of some sort, surrounded completely by huge wooden walls. “That’s aw-awsome!”

 

“Oh, Alphys, you haven’t even seen the half of it.” Mettaton waved at a worker standing in front of one of the walls, who nodded in response. He walked over to a panel on the side of the wall, typing something. Suddenly the wall split apart, and Mettaton pulled the car forward.

 

Undyne, Alphys, and Avery gasped in unison as they approached the shopping center. It was absolutely gigantic. No wonder Mettaton had built it so far from the suburbs. Not only was the complex ridiculously large, but every inch of the exterior was covered in neon pink lights. As the group exited the car, Mettaton handed off the keys to the gate worker.

 

“Alright, darlings, welcome to the MTT Dining and Shopping Plaza!”

 

Alphys stared up at the complex with wide eyes. “T-this is amazing.”

 

The complex consisted of four sides connected at the corners with silos, outlet-style. Avery guessed there must be around five floors. In the center was park with an unreasonably large fountain statue of Mettaton.

 

“Thank you, darling,” said Mettaton with a proud grin. “Now, just over here is the costume shop. I texted the owner that we would be coming in, so it should be unlocked.” Mettaton placed a hand on Avery’s back, guiding her.

 

“Uh, hey, Mettaton?”

 

“Mhm?”

 

“Just uh, isn’t Halloween kind of offensive to you guys? With humans dressing up like monsters and all? Like, is there stuff I should try and avoid?”

 

“Heavens, no! Monsters _love_ Halloween. Think about it. Humans don’t just dress up as monsters; they dress up as musicians, characters, celebrities! If anything, dressing up as a particular monster is considered flattering.”

 

“Really? That’s good to hear.”

 

“Of course, there are certain costumes that can be considered offensive, but I promise you won’t find any of that here. All of these shops are owned and run by monsters.”

 

Mettaton and Avery reached the cute little costume shop with Alphys and Undyne trailing not too far behind, chatting amongst themselves. Undyne was asking if Alphys thought a cool sword would go well with her princess dress. The princess dress had been unveiled to Undyne just a few days prior, and Avery had gotten to watch the big reveal. Alphys originally was going to try and wait until the day of the party to show it to her, but she couldn’t find a way to keep Undyne from costume shopping without rousing suspicion. Regardless, Undyne was beyond ecstatic at the pink frills. It was even torn a little on the side to give it a “princess warrior” vibe. Needless to say, it was perfect for her.

 

Avery began to peruse the shop. It had the usual Halloween options: a sexy nurse, a sexy cop, ect. _Ugh, why does everything have to look like it was made for a porn star?_ Not that Avery was against a “sexy” costume, she just wanted something she could sit down in without flashing her vag at everyone. Meanwhile, Mettaton was rushing around grabbing every outfit in sight, insisting that they would all look great on Avery. However, as Avery watched him grabbed an “on-fire firefighter” outfit she decided she probably shouldn’t put too much faith in his judgement.

 

Avery was about to give up and defer to Undyne for help when out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of something red. She turned to find the most outlandish garment she’d ever laid eyes on. Hanging on one of the racks was a bright red latex jumpsuit; full-length and strapless with a sweetheart neckline. She stared at it for a moment. In a jumpsuit she’d be able to sit down and dance without fear of a wardrobe malfunction. It was not something she’d ever picture herself wearing, but at the same time, the latex called to her.

 

“That,” she said pointing to it. “I need that.”

 

Alphys wrinked up her snout. “A-are you sure?”

 

“It, uh, seems a bit…” Undyne trailed off without finishing her sentence.

 

“Oh my God! It’s perfect! You must try it on immediately,” Mettaton said as he snatched it off of the rack, pushing Avery into the nearest dressing room. She stripped out of her leggings and baggy t-shirt and pulled on the jumpsuit.

 

“Jesus.” She looked… terrible. It was too tight around her middle and too loose in the butt, making her look like an old, shriveled up chipotle pepper. Not to mention the uncomfortable camel toe it gave her. She hung her head in shame and exited the dressing room.

 

“Oh my…” Mettaton held his hand to his mouth in shock.

 

“I know, ok? It’s horrible.”

 

“What? I was going to say it’s perfect! The fit is bad, true, but that’s quite an easy fix. _Francesca, darling, come here!”_ Mettaton bellowed out into the store. A young looking, purple rabbit bounded in at his call.

 

“How can I be of service?” She chirped.

 

“Avery here needs a bit of a fit adjustment.”

 

Francesca smiled sweetly at Avery. “No problem! Hold still for me, dear.” She lifted her arms and opened up her palms, green magic forming in the center of them. Francesca pushed her magic outwards at Avery, where it coated the exterior of the jumpsuit. Avery could feel the garment twist and stretch around her body, along with the familiar buzz of magic on her skin. Green magic always made her feel warm and smiley. “And… there!” Francesca took a step back. “Take a look!”

 

Avery turned back towards the mirror. _Oh. Oh wow._ The jumpsuit fit perfectly. It was tight around her figured, but not uncomfortably so. It simply outlined her curves. The sweetheart neckline sat just below the top of her breasts, allowing just a smidge of cleavage to peak through. And, to top it all off, her ass looked absolutely amazing.

 

“Holy shit. I look-.“

 

“YOU LOOK HOT AS FUCK,” Undyne interjected. She, Alphys, and Mettaton were all grinning at her like crazy. Mettaton approached her, wrapping his arm around Avery’s waist.

 

“There won’t be a single monster at the party who won’t want a piece of you.”

 

Avery blushed. “It’s not like I’m looking for someone right now.”

 

Mettaton raised an eyebrow. “You are single, aren’t you?”

 

“Yeah but…” Avery trailed off. She wasn’t actively looking to date anyone, but she wasn’t opposed to it either. That is, she wasn’t opposed to dating a human. Avery bit her lip. She couldn’t imagine what would happen if her parents caught her dating a monster. They’d probably make up an excuse to get them thrown in jail. Or worse. Avery shuddered.

 

“Listen,” Undyne came up behind Avery. “I was totally against dating anyone when I met Alphys. I just wanted to focus on being the best Royal Guardswoman in the Underground. But meeting Alphys was the best thing to ever happen to me. If anything, her support helped me become better. I guess what I’m trying to say is, even if you aren’t looking, keep your eyes open.”

 

Avery gave a tense smile, deciding not to respond directly to Undyne’s advice. “You don’t think it’s a bit much?” She gestured to the jumpsuit.

 

Mettaton laughed. “Darling, its Halloween. You’re allowed to be a bit much.”

 

Avery gave the mirror another glance. She _did_ look amazing. Paired with some horns and a fake tail she’d make a really hot devil. With one final spin in the mirror, Avery made up her mind.

 

“Alright. I’m going to get it.”

 

Undyne squealed in delight. “You’re gonna look kick-ass. We gotta get you a cool scepter or something.”

 

Avery giggled. “Sure, Undyne, why not.”

 

The group quickly dispersed, spreading out to look for suitable horns and a tail. Mettaton found a pair of red horns and matching tail both covered in sequins, which Avery accepted. She was already going to be wearing skintight latex, she might as well go all the way and add a bit of sparkle, too. Undyne found a pair of silk elbow-length gloves, perfect with the jumpsuit’s strapless look, along with some red stiletto heels. Alphys (to Avery’s surprise) found a gorgeous liquid red lipstick.

 

“I didn’t know you liked makeup, Alphys!”

 

She blushed. “W-well I don’t like to wear it in p-public, but sometimes I m-mess around with it when I’m at home. It’s f-fun.”

 

“You should wear some to the party!”

 

“Y-you think?”

 

“Why not? It’s Halloween!”

 

Alphys smiled slightly. “M-maybe. Can I t-try this on you?” She asked as she uncapped the lipstick.

 

 Avery stood in front of the mirror as her friends assembled her outfit. Mettaton instructed her to clothes her eyes as he pinned on the tail. Something wet and sticky found its way to her lips, and Avery had to do her best to keep her face straight.

 

“And…. there!” Undyne said as she finished adjusting the sequined horns. “Open your eyes!”

 

 _Holy hell._ Avery gawked at her own reflection, hardly recognizing herself. Alphys had applied the lipstick Queen of Hearts-style, making her mouth look short and full. The horns sat amongst her golden curls, the sequins glittering in the bright store light. Somehow, despite being dressed from head to toe in bright red, Avery liked the ensemble. It didn’t look tacky, even with the glitter and the heels. She put her hands on her waist and popped out her hip. Mettaton gasped.

 

“Oh, _darling,_ you look absolutely ravishing!”

 

“I’m getting all of this,” Avery said definitively.

 

“Good,” said Undyne. “Does that mean we’re done? I’m starving.”

 

“M-me too.”

 

Avery untangled the horns from her hair and slipped off the gloves. “Yeah, let me get changed and we’ll head out. You guys wanna call Sans and Paps and invite them too?”

 

Mettaton groaned, but Undyne nodded quickly. “Hell yeah! I’ll tell them to meet us at Grillby’s.”

 

Avery approached the checkout counter to pay for her outfit, but Francesca insisted it was on the house. She slipped a few coins onto the counter anyway.

 

“Thank you, dear, but it really is no problem,” said Francesca as she handed Avery her bag.

 

“Hey, you helped me out of a huge jam today. It’s the least I can do.” Avery said as she patted Francesca’s shoulder. “Good luck with the opening!”

 

“Thank you! Have fun at your party!”

 

The gate monster from early was sitting outside of the shop in Mettaton’s car, waiting for them. Mettaton thanked him and handed him a tip before sliding back into the driver’s seat.

 

“Did you guys call our favorite skeletons?” Avery asked.

 

“Sure did! The punks ‘ill be meeting us there.”

 

The rest of the car ride proceed with very little conversation and a large quantity of singing. Mettaton had just released a new karaoke version of his album, and of course everyone in the car knew all the words. By the time they reached Grillby’s, Avery’s throat burned from singing and sides hurt from laughing.

 

“You know, darling,” said Mettaton as he exited the car. “You have quite the voice.”

 

“Do I?” Asked Avery coyly. She already knew the answer. Avery had always loved singing, and was very aware she had a nice voice.

 

“If you’re ever interested in being an album feature, just let me know.” Avery’s eyes went wide. Being featured on a Mettaton album would be a dream come true for her. She was about to answer him, but he was tackled by a small blur of a child before she could get the words out.

 

“Frisk, darling, it’s so good to see you!” Frisk looked from Mettaton to Undyne to Alphys before landing on Avery.

 

“I can’t tell who you are," they said, pouting.

 

“Hmmm… I’m Papyrus!” Avery said with a smile.

 

“No you aren’t! You’re Avery!”

 

“Aw man, what gave me away?” She said as she scooped Frisk up into an embrace.

 

“Your voice! And you don’t have any magic. Papyrus has blue magic.”

 

“DID SOMEONE SAY MY NAME?” Sans and Papyrus approached, and Frisk bounded over to them.

 

“hey kiddo,” said Sans as he rubbed their head. “don’t run off like that, ok? lotta weirdos around here.”

 

“YOU’RE a weirdo!”

 

“hey, keep talkin’ like that and you’re gonna GET IT.” Sans tickled Frisk’s sides, and Frisk giggled and squirmed away.

 

“Hey Sans, Paps.” Avery gave both of them a hug. “Haven’t seen you two in a hot sec.” She noticed Jessica following behind them. “Hi Jess, nice to see you again!” Despite the fact Avery had been hanging around with the monsters quite often, she’d only seen Jessica that one time before.

 

“Hey, can we catch up over some food?” Undyne interjected. “If I don’t eat soon I’m gonna gnaw my own arm off.”

 

“yeah, me too. if i don’t eat something soon i’ll end up skin and _bones.”_ The group emitted a collective groan.

 

“SANS WE DON’T EVEN HAVE SKIN.”

 

“i guess ya got me there.” They entered Grillby’s, taking a seat in a wide booth. Alphys, Jessica, Mettaton and Undyne took one side while Avery was squashed in between Sans and Papyrus on the other. Frisk hopped up onto Papyrus’s lap.  A young monster resembling a robin approached and introduced themselves as their server. Everyone ordered a burger except for Papyrus and Mettaton, who both got salads. Avery raised her eyebrow at them.

 

“You two on a diet?”

 

“NO. MAYBE YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN BUT I AM A SKELETON AND THEREFORE HAVE NO NEED TO DIET. I JUST HATE THE GREASE.”

 

“Fair enough. What about you, Mettaton?”

 

“Oh, I’m a vegan.”

 

“…Of course you are.”

 

The food came out with surprising speed, carried by a green fire elemental. Sans informed the table that this was the owner’s daughter and establishment’s cook. He handed her a few dollars after she finished passing out the food.

 

“tell your dad i say hey,” said Sans. She nodded wordlessly before retreating back into the kitchen. “sweet girl. doesn’t talk much.”

 

“Oh my God, have you guys seen this?” Undyne exclaimed suddenly. She was reading something off of her smartphone. “It’s criminal what they’re doing! I can’t bel-.” Undyne stopped mid-sentence, staring at her phone with her mouth open. Finally, she looked up at Avery. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me. So when were you planning on telling us?” She started to get up. “Or was your plan to befriend us and use us? Or were you just going to kill us?”

 

Avery’s eyes went wide. “Undyne, what are you talking about?” In response, Undyne shoved her phone into Avery’s face. On the screen was a news article.

 

**‘HUMAN’ Anti-Monster Organization Unveils New Line of Defense Weapons**

_Oh no._

 

And just underneath the headline was a family portrait. The caption under the photo read: “HUMAN leaders Mike and Nikki Falin with their only daughter, Avery Falin.” _OH NO OH NO OH NO._

“Fuck. Ok. I guess I have some explaining to do.”

 

“uh, can ya let the rest of us in on what’s going on?” Sans glanced between Avery and Undyne nervously.

 

“Yeah,” Avery sighed. “Undyne, if you sit back down I’ll explain. I’m sorry you found out like this.” Undyne said nothing but slowly sank back into her seat. Her good eye was locked onto Avery, fangs bared.

 

“Ok,” Avery started, addressing the rest of the table. “You’ve all heard of Mike and Nikki Falin, correct? The leaders of ‘HUMAN’.”

 

“they’re those anti-monster fucks. buncha sick freaks.”

 

Avery winced. “Yeah. Well, those sick freaks also happen to be my parents.” She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for more yelling. There was only silence. Avery reopened her eyes.

 

“OH. WELL, THAT’S UNFORTUNATE. I’M SORRY YOU HAVE SUCH HORRIBLE PARENTS.”

 

Undyne growled. “You’re _sympathizing_ with her? She lied to us!”

 

“well, uh, technically,” Sans started. “she never said they _weren’t_ her parents, so i don’t think 'lie' is the right word.”

 

“You guys are unbelievable!” Undyne looked like she might combust with rage. Avery recognized her expression, it was the same one she wore the day Kat was harassing her. “Her parents are responsible for the unjust deaths and incarcerations of countless innocent monsters!”

 

“You’re right!” Avery said quickly, realizing how she could diffuse the situation. “They are. My parents are racist assholes. My _parents_ are. I refuse to take responsibility for their actions. Everything they’ve done, every monster they hurt, I fought them on all of it. There was never a decision they made where I wasn’t there, objecting. Since the barrier fell, I’ve been fighting them. I am not my parents.” Undyne looked calmer, but now she was just staring at her hands. Avery pressed on. “I didn’t tell you guys at first because I’m sick of living their reputation. I don’t want to be the daughter of racists. I just want to be Avery. And Avery isn’t racist.” She took Undyne’s hands in her own, and Undyne looked up at her. “You know me. I’m your friend. I’d never do anything to hurt you or any other monster.”

 

“i…” Undyne’s voice cracked. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have blown up at you like that.”

 

“It’s ok. I should have told you guys.”

 

“Did you… Do you know what they’ve done?” Undyne asked. Avery shook her head, and Undyne tossed her phone onto the table. Avery began to read the article still displayed on the screen.

 

_“Humans Unite against Monster ANtagonists, an organization more commonly known by the acronym ‘HUMAN,’ has unveiled a new line of defense weaponry. An insider revealed that these new weapons are capable of disrupting a monster’s magical form. A single shot from one of these weapons will kill any monster instantly, regardless of the monster’s HP.”_

“Oh my God.” Avery couldn’t tear her eyes away from the screen. Her parents had done some questionable things over the years, but _this?_ This was murder. Undyne had been right when she said what they were doing was criminal. “I… had no idea. My mother said they were working on something big but I figured it was just another campaign or something. I didn’t think they’d ever do anything like this.”

 

There was a beat of silence before Sans spoke up. “what exactly are they doing?”

 

Avery passed him the phone without looking up. San’s eyes went dark as he read. “oh hell no.”

 

The phone was passed silently around the table. Avery watched as each person’s expression changed when they learned what her parents were doing. Eventually, the phone was passed back to Undyne. More silence.

 

Avery sighed. “Listen. My parents pay for my college so I haven't… I mean, well... They know how I feel. I’ve told them over and over and over that what they’re doing is immoral. But that’s all I’ve done. For that, I’m sorry.” She paused and looked at her burger, which was definitely cold by now. “I want to do more.”

 

“Avery,” Jessica spoke up. “If that’s what you want to do… It’s what you _should_ do. We’ll be behind you, ok? If you’re gonna take a stand against them we’re gonna do it with you.”

 

“Yeah,” Undyne’s voice cracked again. “We got your back, punk.” She smiled.

 

“DON’T WORRY, AVERY. IF YOUR PARENTS DO ANYTHING, WE’LL TAKE CARE OF YOU. YOU CAN COME LIVE WITH SANS AND I AND WE CAN HELP YOU STAY IN SCHOOL.” Avery felt tears well up in her eyes. Papyrus smiled at her so genuinely. Her friends had just found out she’d been hiding a terrible secret, yet here they were offering her housing and assistance.

 

“Y’know what, Paps? I think as long as I have friends like you guys, I’ll be alright.” She felt Papyrus wrap her and Frisk up into an embrace. The tears that had been prickling at the corners of her eyes broke free and rolled down her cheeks.

 

“hey, i hate to ruin the moment, but i think we’re kinda causing a scene,” said Sans. Despite his words, he was smiling at his brother. Papyrus broke away from the hug and Avery wiped her eyes.

 

“U-um,” Alphys spoke up for the first time. “I h-hate to be th-this person, b-but are we still having the party tomorrow?” She asked hopefully. The table broke into laughter, and a feeling of release swept over them.

 

“WELL OF COURSE! NOTHING WILL GET IN THE WAY OF A PARTY THROWN BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

 

“Oh, g-good!”

 

The tension was broken, and the group continued their meal. Grillby even had the courtesy to reheat their food for them. Avery looked around the table at her friends, letting out a deep sigh. She’d only known them a few weeks, but college bonds people. There was no way she was going to let her stupid parents ruin this for her.

 

No, she was going to tear their organization apart from the inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes. This is why you never keep secrets.
> 
> Avery's red jumpsuit: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/dCUAAOSwSuNaT0ZL/s-l300.jpg
> 
> Next update on Wednesday, in which THINGS GET SPOOKY.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr! @bispacegirl  
> I welcome any and all fanart :)


	6. SPOOKY SCARY SKELETONS: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Avery finally goes to the skelebro's fabled Halloween party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING:
> 
> Alcohol use

Avery took a sharp breath as the cool evening air hit her skin. It was rather chilly for mid-October, and she wasn’t dressed for the weather. Avery had thrown on Undyne’s weird band t-shirt since she was heading to Alphys and Undyne’s place anyway. She still hadn’t figured out who “Rapid Oxidation” was. The trek to their dorm was long one, and Avery used the time to mentally prepare herself for the evening. It had been a while since she’d gone out. Her nerves crept up on her like they had her freshman year. What if she made a fool of herself? Drank too much? Did something stupid? What if everyone was secretly still mad about her parents? Maybe this whole thing was some sort of trap. She shook those thoughts from her head. Nothing bad was going to happen tonight, this was going to be a fun night with her friends.

Avery glanced around the campus as she walked. It was just after 8pm. The orange glow from the streetlights mixed with the fading blue daylight, making her feel like she was walking through a painting. Many of the fall leaves had begun falling from the trees, leaving only scraggly branches silhouetted against the streetlights. Avery tried to shake the eerie feeling creeping down her back. As safe as she felt on campus, something about walking alone at dusk creeped her out. Thankfully, she was approaching the dorm. The light from the building shown through the windows and Avery felt comfortable again. She pulled out her cellphone and dialed Undyne.

“Hey, punk! Are you here?”

“Yeah, just got here. Buzz me in?”

“No problem.” Avery heard the soft click of the door unlocking and made her way up the stairs, where Undyne was waiting to greet her.

“Is that my shirt?”

“Yeah, I wore it so I could give it back.”

Undyne squinted for a moment. “Eh, keep it. It looks like it fits you better anyways.”

Avery’s mouth curved into a smile. She’d never have asked to keep the shirt herself, but she hadn’t really wanted to give it back either. It held significance to her now, like a symbol of their friendship. “Hey, thanks. I’ll take good care of it.”

Undyne smiled and led Avery into her dorm, where Alphys was furiously ironing a pleated skirt and Mettaton was lying on the bed. Alphys jumped when she heard the door open.

“Oh! H-hey guys!”

Avery smiled warmly. “Hey, Alphys. You guys wanna start getting ready?”

“I’m already ready,” said Mettaton without glancing up from the magazine he was flipping through. Avery cocked her head in confusion.

“But… you look exactly the same as you always do.”

“Exactly, darling! I’m going as my favorite celebrity!”

Avery groaned. “Let me guess. It’s you.”

Mettaton winked in response.

“Well,” Undyne cut in. “The rest of us still need to get ready.” Alphys nodded in agreement before setting herself up in the bathroom mirror.

“Mettaton, since you’re ready, will you help me with my makeup?” Avery asked. Mettaton’s eyes lit up.

“Of course, darling!”

Mettaton sat Avery down on the bed and got to work on her face, using the same red lipstick Alphys had picked out for her. Winged eyeliner, fake red lashes, heart-shaped lips. He added a bit of mauve-colored blush this time, to make Avery look a little more dangerous. Meanwhile, Alphys was hunched over the bathroom counter, using a scale serum to make herself pink. She adjusted the cat ears perched on her head and took a step back, assessing her reflection. For a lizard monster, she made a pretty convincing Mew Mew Kissy Cutie.

“You punks almost ready?” Undyne asked with her hand on her hips. She had taken the pink princess dress Alphys had made for her and transformed it into an amazing Princess Peach costume.

“Almost!” Mettaton said as he sprayed Avery’s face with a setting spray. “There. Avery, you’re a beauty.”

“Thanks, Mett. Damn guys. We’re gonna burn the house down with our good looks.”

Alphys giggled. “W-we should get going. If we l-leave now we’ll get there exactly t-twenty minutes late.” Avery smiled. She’d taught them well.

The group piled into Mettaton’s car, giggling as Avery ducked down to avoid hitting her horns on the roof. The short drive was filled with giddy talking and laughter. Avery had never seen her friends so excited. Undyne was practically vibrating with anticipation.

“Avery, you’re going to love this,” she said. “Halloween is my FAVORITE.”

“I can see that,” Avery said, chuckling.

They arrived at the party exactly when Alphys had said they would. The group got out of the car and quickly began heading up the driveway to the skelebro’s house.

“Oh shoot,” said Avery. "I forgot my phone in the car! You guys go on ahead; I’ll meet you inside.” Undyne gave Avery a quick nod before linking arms with Alphys and marching towards the house. Avery ducked her head into the car to retrieve her phone from the backseat.

“Howdy,” said a voice behind her. Avery jumped at the sound, knocking her head on one of the car seats. She grabbed her phone quickly and whirled around to see who was behind her.

“Oh, hey Jessica. What are you dressed as?”

Jessica rolled her eyes. That was… odd. “Nothing. I’m not staying, I’m just here to pick up Frisk before the drinking starts.”

“Ah. Well, let me walk you to the house.” Jessica didn’t respond. She just looked at Avery with her arms crossed, scowling. Something was really bothering her. When Avery started up the driveway, Jessica followed close behind. Yesterday she had been so nice, talking about how she’d stand behind Avery and everything. Today she seemed… off. Avery rang the doorbell, and Sans answered the door. His eye sockets drooped slightly, making it obvious that he had already started drinking.

"Frisk," Jessica called into the house without acknowledging Sans. "It's time to go!"

“’sup ave, jess.” Avery looked him over. He was dressed normally, minus his usual hoodie. However, his signature white t-shirt had been scrawled over with sharpie: ‘legendary fartmaster’.

Avery raised an eyebrow. “Nice, uh, costume you got on there, Sans.”

“heh. it’s an old joke between me and the kid.” Right on cue, Frisk came bounding up to the door, tackling Jessica in a hug. When they pulled away from her, Avery could see they were wearing the same t-shirt as Sans, except Frisk's shirt read ‘stupid doo-doo butt.’

Jessica scrunched up her face. “THAT’S your costume, Frisk?”

Frisk frowned. “Yes?”

“Well, it’s vulgar. Let’s get you home and into some pajamas.” Frisk looked sad, but they nodded and followed Jessica back down the driveway. Sans and Avery both watched them leave, jaws clenched.

“I’ve never seen her like that before.”

“i have. but never with frisk.” He closed his eyes for a moment and let the tension fade from his face. “let’s go inside. most people are already here.” Avery followed him in, but not before casting one last glance at Jessica sitting in her car. She was looking straight ahead, with her hands on the wheel even though she hadn’t started the car yet. Avery could see her mouth moving, and Frisk sitting in the back with their head down. Something was very wrong. But Sans closed the door behind them, and Avery was face-to-face with Papyrus’s party.

Oh boy, was it a party. There must have been several hundred monsters scattered through the house and yard. Avery felt her nerves returning at the realization that she knew almost nobody there. Sans must have sensed her apprehension, because he placed his hand on her shoulder.

“hey. everyone’s sitting over at the bar. well, actually, it’s just the kitchen counter. but we’re calling it the bar tonight. you wanna join them?”

Avery nodded wordlessly but didn’t move. She felt Sans’s eyes on her, and she turned to look at him.

“you, uh, look really good.” His face was slightly flushed.

“Oh, thanks!” The compliment had pulled Avery out of her panic. “You should be telling that to Mettaton and Undyne, though. They convinced me to buy it.”

Sans led Avery over to the bar, where Papyrus, Mettaton, Undyne, and Alphys were all sitting.

“HELLO AVERY! I’M SO GLAD YOU CAME! YOU LOOK LOVELY! AND SHINY!”

Avery grinned. No compliment was more genuine than one from Papryus. “Thanks, Paps. You look pretty cool yourself.”

Papyrus beamed. He was dressed up as Danny Zuko, leather jacket and all. He was even wearing a black wig slicked down with gel. “THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I GOOGLED ‘COOL DUDE’ TO FIND A COSTUME THAT EMBODIED MY PERSONALITY.”

“i for one think your costume is very ‘cool,’ bro. so cool that i’ve got chills, they’re multiplyin’.”

“SANS.”

“oh, c’mon. that wasn’t even a pun.”

Avery giggled. “It was still terrible, though.”

Sans shrugged and took a seat at the bar, Avery plopping down next to him. She was still visibly uncomfortable with the number of people in the house, although she wasn’t quite sure why. Avery had been to parties full of strangers before. The only difference now was that these strangers weren’t human. _Ah_ , she thought. _There it is._ She WAS the daughter of the most notorious anti-monster leaders around, no wonder she felt on edge. If anyone at the party were to recognize her… Avery shook that thought from her head. If someone recognized her, she knew her friends would be there to defend her.

“hey.” Sans had been watching Avery’s expression change as she worked things out in her head. “you alright?”

Avery nodded. “Yeah. I just-.” She bit her lip. Should she tell him how she was feeling? He was watching her so intently, with such concern, that she felt compelled to be honest. “I’m worried that someone here is going to recognize me. Because of my parents.”

“ah. that, uh, wouldn’t be great.”

“Yeah.” Avery looked down at her hands. Sans reached down and took one of them in his own.

“listen, if anything like that happened, you know we got your back. paps wouldn’t let anyone give you trouble.” He paused. “and i wouldn’t either.”

Avery cracked a smile. “Hey, thanks. That makes me feel a lot better.”

Sans returned her smile before pouring them shots. They both downed them, Avery scrunching up her face at the burning sensation.

“Oh, what the hell was that?”

“my special recipe. ‘s got a bit of magic in it.”

“What kind?”

Sans smirked. “orange magic. heard of it?” Avery shook her head. “orange magic enhances a person’s bravery. so you could say that shot was ‘liquid courage.’”

Avery laughed. She could feel the magic already moving through her veins, eradicating her fear. “Wow, that feels amazing. I can hardly remember why I was so nervous!”

Sans smiled wider. “so now that you’re feelin’ all brave, would you wanna dance with me?”

Avery sputtered. “Oh my God. Absolutely not.” She said quickly, before noticing the way Sans’s mouth had turned down at the corners. “I mean. I really hate dancing.”

“nobody hates dancing. you’re just afraid.”

“How can I be afraid when I just drank a shot of bravery magic?”

“dunno. how about i pour you a couple more of those and then ask ya again?”

Avery shrugged. “Alright. However, I make no promises.”

“heh. i’ll drink to that.”

A couple more shots was a vast understatement. Tipsy Avery was quite competitive, and she convinced herself she could out drink the magical skeleton seated beside her. She couldn’t. Unfortunately, she was about six shots in before she realized this.

“Oh. Oh no.” Between the alcohol and magic mixed in her system, Avery’s head was swirling. She giggled.

“ya alright there, pal?” Avery could tell by the way Sans drawled his words that he wasn’t exactly sober himself, which only made her giggle harder.

“You’re drunk.”

“so are you.”

“Touché.”

They were the only two people left at the bar. Everyone else had moved to some other part of the house. Mettaton was over by the speakers, controlling the music (by playing his new album repeatedly), Papyrus was flitting around the house, making sure his guests were all having a good time, Undyne and Alphys had both mysteriously disappeared, and the rest of the guests were all out on the dance floor. Sans watched them with a slightly longing expression.

“so, how about that dance?”

Avery hiccupped. “You’re still on about that? I won’t lie, Sans, you don’t strike me as much of a dancer.”

“i am a man of mystery,” Sans said with a wink.

“Forgive me for not believing you on that one. Do you actually want to dance?” Avery was surprised at how adamant Sans was being. It wasn’t like him to press for things.

“’course i do. someone needs to show that hunk of metal up.” He gestured to Mettaton, who had moved from the speakers to the center of the dance floor.

“Oh, leave him alone. He’s having fun.” Avery caught Mettaton’s eye and gave him a little wave. He gestured for her to join him in response. “Alright, c’mon, Sans. Let’s go.”

“really?”

“Yeah. Mettaton DOES look a bit too cocky. Let’s go show him some moves.”

Sans snickered and grabbed Avery’s hand, dragging her out to the floor. The bravery magic kept her from worrying about the people around her, and she was able to dance without apprehension. She danced face to face with Sans, his hands hovering around her hips. They weren’t half bad. Avery was once again glad she’d chosen the red jumpsuit, it was quite easy to move around in. From behind them, Avery could hear Mettaton cheer. She grinned. These monsters really had become her best friends.

Sans and Avery must have danced together for an hour before Mettaton stopped the music.

“Attention, everybody,” he said over a microphone. “As I’m sure you all know, I’m planning on opening a new restaurant soon. But what most of you don’t know is that it will also be a shopping center!” Excited murmurs rang throughout the house. “And to celebrate, you’re all invited to the MTT Shopping and Dining Center’s very own karaoke bar for a free night of drinks, the same day as the grand opening! Which, in case you didn’t know, is in two days.”

Cheers rang out in the house. Avery clapped while Sans rolled his eyes.

“Sans,” Avery said. “Sans we are so going.”

“if i was even two percent soberer than i am right now i’d say no. but i’m drunk. so yes.”

Avery giggled. “Is soberer even a word?”

“i dunno.” He smiled and tugged Avery a little closer. “but i do know that we should keep dancing.”

Avery felt a slight blush creep up to her cheeks. Sans was acting… odd. The boldness he’d displayed over the course of the night was super out of character for him. His hands were now firmly locked onto Avery’s hips in a way that felt less than platonic. Her breath caught.

“Actually I, uh, think I need some water.” She watched Sans expression revert from genuinely happy to his usual forced grin. “You need anything?”

“nah. i’m good.”

Avery excused herself to the kitchen, gulping down a few glasses of water to try and cease the buzzing in her head. Luckily, the kitchen was vacant at the moment. She tried to piece together when exactly things had started to feel wrong. Sans was not acting like Sans, that much she knew. The bad feeling in her stomach about being at a party full of monsters had dulled with the orange magic shots, but it was still there. She was overwhelmed. This was too much. Avery poured herself another glass of water.

“HELLO AVERY. ARE YOU FEELING ALRIGHT?” Avery jumped at the sound of Papyrus’s voice behind her.

“Oh, hey Paps. I’m ok. Just a bit, uh, stressed.” 

Papyrus frowned. “STRESSED? BUT YOU’RE AT A PARTY! YOU LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE HAVING FUN WITH MY BROTHER.”

Avery laughed. “I was. I was having a lot of fun, actually. But Sans is kind of acting weird. I think it’s putting me on edge.”

A look of recognition flashed across Papyrus’s face. “AH. WELL, THAT DOES MAKE SENSE.”

“Uh, it does? Why?”

Papyrus glanced over his shoulder before grabbing Avery’s wrist and tugging her behind a cupboard. “I KNOW A SECRET THAT MY BROTHER DOES NOT KNOW THAT I KNOW.”

“Um, ok?”

“I HAD DECIDED NOT TO SHARE IT. BUT I THINK I CHANGED MY MIND.” He took a breath before lowering his voice. “MY BROTHER LIKES YOU AVERY, HE LIKES YOU A LOT.”

Avey's eyes went wide. “As like, a friend?”

Papryus chuckled. “NO.”

“Ah. How, uh, do you know this?”

Papyrus shook his head. “THAT IS INFORMATION I AM NOT WILLING TO SHARE.”

Avery stared at the floor, unsure of what to make of all this. She was a little too intoxicated to give anything serious thought.

“Well, thank you for telling me, Papyrus.”

He nodded before exiting the kitchen, leaving Avery to ponder this new discovery. It certainly explained why Sans had been acting funny all night. She felt one of the knots in her stomach untwist. This explanation meant he had not been secretly plotting to sabotage her evening to get at her parents. A fear Avery didn’t even realize she’d been holding on to. Despite the kindness the monsters had displayed towards her, she still half expected them to turn on her.

Suddenly, Avery burst out laughing. Here she was contemplating how surprised she was that Sans didn’t secretly hate her, she hadn’t even realized that SANS HAD A CRUSH ON HER. _Oh, that’s adorable,_ she thought. What to do with this information?

“hey, ave, you alright?” Avery turned to see Sans standing in the kitchen doorway. She felt her cheeks get hot automatically. _Great._

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.”

“’s all good. you were just gone for a minute.”

“Yeah I was, uh, super thirsty.” Sans raised an eyebrow.

“ok. well, most people are startin’ to head out.”

Avery paused for a moment, looking Sans over. She’d never really considered him before. I mean, he was wearing a ‘legendary fartmaster’ t-shirt. Not really Avery’s type. But she was drunk, and he was smiling at her in that smug way of his. For the first time since they’d met she felt… something.

“ya alright there, pal?”

Avery blinked. “Yeah, sorry. I spaced out for a sec.”

Sans looked concerned. “you sure you’re alright?”

Avery smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go say goodbye to everyone.”

She walked up to Sans and linked arms with him playfully, and together they headed back out to the living room. Sans hadn’t been lying when he said most people were leaving. The only people left in the living room were Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, and Mettaton. Papyrus and Alphys were both seated on the couch, while Undyne and Mettaton were lying on the floor, half passed out.

“Are you all heading out?” Avery asked.

Undyne groaned. “I don’t WANT to,” she mumbled into the floor. It was obvious she was still pretty slumped. In fact, everyone in the room still seemed a bit tipsy.

“WELL, JUST BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE LEFT DOESN’T MEAN YOU ALL HAVE TO,” said Papyrus. “IN FACT, I BELIEVE SANS AND I WOULD BOTH LIKE IT IF YOU STAY A BIT.”

Undyne perked up at this. “Alphys, can we? Please?”

Alphys giggled. “Sure, Undyne.”

“Well,” Avery walked over to the couch and snuggled in between Papyrus and Alphys. “If you guys are staying, I think I’ll stay for a little, too.” She was paying extra attention to how Sans reacted to her words now, and she watched as he smiled slightly wider.

“’s fine by me,” he said as he plopped onto the floor next to Undyne. “what do you guys want to do?”

Undyne sat up, grinning. “I think I have an idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long to come out! It ended up being so long that I'm splitting it into two parts. Part 2 should be out quicker than Part 1 was, but my life's been a bit wild lately so no promises.
> 
> In Part 2 we will explore Papyrus's secret about Sans a little more, so uh, get excited for that.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr: @spacegirl-kali (I changed my URL)
> 
> Any and all fanart is welcome ((((((and encouraged)))))


	7. SPOOKY SCARY SKELETONS: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Avery makes a promise she can't keep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, an early chapter! I figured I'd try and get it out quick since this is a part 2.
> 
> Oh boy, it's time for the first SEXUAL CONTENT WARNING!!! So if you don't want to see any of that, don't read this one. I'll provide a quick summary at the end.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING:  
> Alcohol Use

“Ok, since it was my idea, I get to go first,” Undyne said, waggling her eyebrows a little.

“That’s fair.” Avery was in charge of pouring shots for everyone, which were still infused with bravery magic. She passed the last one over to Papyrus. Everything was ready.

Undyne took an over-exaggerated breath. “Never have I ever… sucked a dick.”

Mettaton and Avery both took shots. Everyone eyed Mettaton.

“What,” he said defensively. “Don’t act like any of you are actually surprised.” Avery snickered and poured out two more shots.

“I suppose it’s my turn now.” Mettaton pondered for a moment before grinning. “Never have I ever slept with someone and given them less than three orgasms.”

Everyone took a shot.

“You’re a piece of shit, Mettaton,” said Avery.

“Oh, darling. You’re just upset I swing for the other team. I do believe it’s your turn now.”

“Fine.” She thought for a moment, before deciding on something a bit tamer than Undyne’s and Mettaton’s assertions. “Never have I ever broken a bone.”

Avery giggled as Sans and Papyrus both visibly winced. Only Undyne took a shot this round.

“Oh c’mon,” said Undyne. “That one was fucking boring. Sans, it’s your turn. Better make it juicy.”

Sans yawned. “k. never have i ever had sex.”

 For a moment, there was silence. Then, after the initial shock wore off, the room burst into an array of different reactions. Alphys and Undyne were besides themselves in laughter, Papyrus remained dead silent (and turned a bit red), Mettaton took his shot with a smug half-smile, and Avery…

 _Oh. Oh no._ Avery looked at Sans with a calculated stare. He shrugged and smiled, but a faint blue tone dusted his cheeks. _He’s cute when he’s flustered,_ she thought. _Cute and-._ Her stomach did a little flip. God, was she really having these thoughts about a fucking skeleton? Papyrus had really fucked her head up with his little confession. Avery downed her bravery shot. She had a feeling she was going to need it.

“is it really _that_ funny?” Sans shot a look at Undyne, who was practically in tears at this point.

“Alphys,” Undyne gasped. “Oh my god, Alphys, you owe me ten bucks.”

Sans turned an even brighter shade of blue. “you guys _bet_ on my virginity?” He growled.

“ _What?_ ” Alphys choked out between laughs. “N-no! We aren’t laughing at you, S-sans!”

“YOU.” Undyne pointed at Papyrus. “You just took a shot.”

“SO I DID,” Papyrus said flatly.

“That means you’ve had sex.”

“I WOULD LIKE IT IF WE TALKED ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE.”

“i completely agree. alphys, i believe it's your turn.” Sans looked even more uncomfortable than before. Avery bit her lip, stifling a smile.

“Wait! Wait.” Undyne had finally started to calm down. She held a finger up to Papyrus. “One question. Then we’ll stop.”

“FINE.”

“Girl or guy?”

Papyrus hesitated. Undyne’s smile grew wider.

“GUY.”

“I fucking knew it!” Undyne pumped a fist in the air while Alphys groaned. “Guess you owe me twenty bucks now, babe.”

Alphys looked dejected for a second. Suddenly, she snapped her head back up. “S-sans, it’s my turn right?”

“s’pose so.”

“Never have I ever… s-slept with a robot.”

Mettaton made an uncomfortable choking sound. Papyrus narrowed his eyes but didn’t reach for a drink. Alphys smiled triumphantly.

“G-guess I get ten of those dollars back.” Alphys tapped Undyne on the shoulder gently.

“For now,” Undyne said slyly.

Mettaton cleared his throat. “Well, _I_ have a question.” Silence. “For Sans.”

“choose your next words carefully, bud,” Sans muttered.

“I’m just curious as to why you haven’t…” Mettaton gestured with his hands.

Sans shrugged. “‘s not a big deal, really. guess i never got around to it. if someone approached me i might go for it, but tryna get someone to sleep with me? seems like too much work.”

“Damn, Paps,” Avery interjected, giggling. “You weren’t lyin’ when you said he was lazy.”

“NO I WAS NOT.”

“you guys are jerks,” Sans said.

“OH, COME ON SANS. YOU’RE SMILING.”

“heh. maybe.”

The next hour was filled with antics of a similar caliber. Who had slept with who (Undyne and Alphys were the only ones in the room who had slept with each other), was Sans gay like his brother (obviously not), was Mettaton a top or a bottom (he answered this one with a simple “I think you know”).

However, Avery found it hard to focus on the present conversation. Her eyes were fixed on Sans. Watching him laugh, drink, speak. Trying to decide how she felt. She must have been on her eighth or ninth shot by now, and what she _felt_ was horny.

_No, Avery. Do not fuck the skeleton monster._

But then Alphys said something that made Sans laugh, and Avery felt desire bubble up within her. He really was kind of attractive, despite that stupid shirt. Avery smiled. She liked the stupid shirt. She liked his dumb puns. She liked how smart he was and how smug he was about it.

_Oh fuck._

She liked Sans.

“Hey, Paps?” Undyne was slurring her words now. “’S it ok if Alphys and I steal the guest room tonight? I don’t think anyone’s in any kind of state to drive home.”

“OF COURSE, UNDYNE! AVERY, YOU CAN TAKE THE COUCH IF YOU WANT. I’LL RUN UPSTAIRS AND PUMP UP THE AIR MATTRESS FOR METTATON.”

“Thank you, Papy.” Mettaton sat up and rubbed his head.

“C-come on, guys,” Alphys said as she yanked Undyne into a standing position. “I think t-that’s enough fun for tonight. L-let’s get you some water and into bed.”

Sans got up and made his way into the kitchen, while Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and Mettaton took to the stairs. This left Avery alone to ponder how she should end the night.

She had two options:

  1. Go to bed like a regular fucking person.
  2. Attempt to take a skeleton monster’s virginity.



She stood up. It’s not like she actually needed to think about it.

Avery exited the living room and made her way towards the kitchen, standing just outside the doorway. She steadied herself on the door frame and eyed her target. Sans was digging through the fridge, drunkenly smiling to himself. _Mmm, he’s cute,_ Avery thought. _This is definitely a good idea._ The only light in the room, besides the fridge, was the moonlight glowing through the windows. It took Sans a solid minute before he noticed Avery watching him. He gave her a quick glance before continuing his search through the fridge.

“heya. need some drunk food?”

“Heyaaa, Sansy,” Avery drawled. “No, I was looking for you.”

Sans looked at her with a raised brow, shutting the fridge door. “sansy?”

Avery pouted. “What, you don’t like it?”

Sans had to laugh. Drunk Avery was ridiculous. “’s cute.”

 _Ok, Ave, make a move or go to bed,_ thought Avery. She gathered up every ounce of liquid courage still in her veins and sauntered over to Sans. He was about to take a step back when she wrapped her arms around his waist.

“So. I’ve been thinkin’. I’ve made a lot of really, really amazing friends recently. And that’s great.” Sans let out a soft chuckle, thinking he knew what was going on. His cute, drunk friend was grateful for their friendship.

“But,” Avery continued. “Even with all these great friends, something feels... lacking.”

Sans frowned. “what’s that ‘sposed to mean?”

Avery placed a soft hand on San’s cheekbone. “Sans.” Her voice quaked ever so slightly. “I _know._ ”

“you… know? that’s awfully cryptic.”

“Saaaans.” She giggled and tugged him a little bit closer. “I know what you want. I think I want it, too.”

Sans just looked confused. Avery huffed. “You really gonna make me spell it out for you?”

“uh.”

“Sans, I wanna fuck you.” _Oof, not the most graceful way to put that, Ave._

Sans blushed bright blue for a moment, before unwinding Avery’s arms from his waist and turning his attention back to the fridge. For a moment, the two just stood in silence. This was not the reaction Avery had expected. After a few beats, Sans spoke.

“y’know, i tell a lot of jokes, too. but i know what lines not to cross.”

Jokes? What? Avery frowned. “Sans, that wasn’t a joke.”

He slammed the refrigerator door and turned to face Avery. She took a small step back upon seeing his expression, which had gone dark with anger.

“fucking stop it.”

Avery had never really noticed just how BIG Sans was. Compared to the other monsters in the group, he always seemed so short. But now, standing only a few feet away from her, Avery realized he could probably crush her to pieces if he wanted. She tried to keep her tipsy mind from considering that that might be kind of a turn on.

“Sans, I am not joking,” she said firmly. The resentment on his face did not waver.

“oh, yeah?” His face warped into a cruel smile. “why don’tcha get on your knees and prove it?” He slurred.

Avery’s stomach dropped. She knew he was drunk. She knew Sans in no way expected her to comply. But the challenge in his tone was unmistakable. It was the same tone he’d used on her the first day of class. _No need to get competitive, bud,_ Avery thought to herself. She returned his smile and, as slowly and as exaggerated as she could manage, sunk to her knees. San’s anger was mixed with mild amusement now, but he didn’t dare break the bit. Crossing his arms, he called her bluff.

“well?”

In one smooth motion, Avery dragged his shorts to the ground to expose… absolutely nothing. A bare skeletal pelvis. She cast a quizzical look up at him. For a moment, all irritation disappeared from his expression, replaced instead with complete panic.  Avery grinned with victory, and Sans furrowed his brow.

Now it was her turn to call his bluff. “Well?” She sang. She could see Sans was nervous, he obviously hadn’t expected for Avery to play along this far. But she could also see he wasn’t going to be the one to give in first.

Suddenly, San’s pelvis wasn’t so bare anymore. _Holy fuck._ A blue, glowing member had manifested itself inches from Avery’s face. He had to be doing this on purpose, to intimidate her. The fact that he could conjure up genitals at all meant he must have some sort of control over what they looked like. And what they looked like now could only be described as BIG. Avery froze. Sans smiled.

“go at it.”

He expected her to get back up and slink off to bed. He expected her to apologize for teasing him. He expected her to freak out at the sight of a blue, glowing ecto-dick.

He did not expect her to shove the whole thing down her throat.

But that’s exactly what she did.

“ah!” Sans yelped. Avery looked up to meet his eyes, which had gone completely black. The blue blush had returned to his cheeks. _Good,_ Avery thought.

“i-i didn’t-.“ Sans stuttered.

Avery pulled back, drawing her tongue along his shaft slowly as she did. “Were you saying something?’

“n-no. absolutely not.”

“Well, then you should probably try and be quiet. There are people sleeping,” she teased before slipping him back into her mouth.

“fuck.” Ok, Avery knew she had just told him to be quiet, but that was hot. She picked up the pace, bringing one of her hands up to her mouth to aid her.

“shit. shit. y-you should probably stop soon.” Avery did not stop. Instead, she made eye contact as she deep throated him as far as she could handle without gagging.

“ssshit. shit.” _That’s right, you blue asshole. I was not fucking joking,_ Avery thought before her focus was broken. Sans’s right eye remained dark, but his left eye was flashing, alternating between turquoise and yellow. Hovering beside San’s head was a giant, dragon-like skull. _Oh what the hell._

“ave, you gotta sto- FUCK!”

It was too late. Avery hummed as she felt him finish in her mouth, feeling victorious. At the same exact time, the mysterious floating skull fired a laser straight into the fridge. Avery snapped her head back and they both froze.

“uh. oops.” Sans rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, still panting slightly.

Avery coughed, choking equally on cum and surprise. “ _OOPS?_ What the fuck was that, Sans!?” She asked once she regained use of her lungs.

“that was, uh, a blaster. one of my weapons. guess i got a bit too worked up there.”

“Did you know that would happen?”

“nope.”

Before Avery could respond, the sound of footsteps running down the stairs echoed in the kitchen. She was on her feet in a flash, wiping her mouth. Sans tugged his shorts back up just as Papyrus and Undyne sprinted in. Despite still being drunk off their asses, both looked ready to fight.

“BROTHER, ARE YOU AND AVERY ALRIGHT? WE HEARD A CRASH!”

Sans nodded wordlessly as Undyne approached the hole that had been blasted into the refrigerator, rubbing the back of her neck.

“How the hell did this happen?”

“I, uh, surprised him,” said Avery rather unconvincingly. Undyne turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

“I HAVE SURPRISED SANS MANY TIMES AND THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED,” said Papyrus.

“she, uh, _really_ surprised me, paps,” Sans said while trying to inconspicuously wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead. Avery had to choke down a laugh. He wasn’t lying.

“You sure you two are alright?” Undyne’s tone sounded worried. Avery felt a little bad.

“Yeah, we are. I promise. You two should go get some sleep.”

Undyne seemed satisfied with this. “Alright. We’ll deal with this mess in the morning. You punks get some sleep too, okay? Goodnight.”

“GOODNIGHT SANS AND AVERY. PLEASE TRY NOT TO PUT ANYMORE HOLES IN OUR HOME, SANS.”

“heh. you got it, bro,” he said, winking at his brother.

Once Undyne and Papyrus were safely upstairs, Avery turned to face Sans, hands on her hips.

“So.”

“so.”

“I wasn’t joking.”

“i can see that. i’m honestly pretty shocked. i mean, pleasantly so, but still shocked.”

“Well, if we’re being honest, me too,” Avery said, shrugging. “But I fully enjoyed that,” she added quickly. “And I’m sure I would fully enjoy other things as well, if you catch my drift.”

Sans flushed blue, little beads of sweat dotting his skull again. “cool.”

“Just let me know, ok? You can cash in on that offer anytime.” Avery hesitated for a moment. She wanted to kiss him before going to bed, but after what just happened… she settled on giving him a peck on the cheek. “Goodnight, Sans.”

Sans didn’t say anything in return. He leaned on the counter and stared at the floor, contemplating. After waiting a beat, Avery turned towards the doorway. She was about to exit the kitchen when she felt something in her chest; a sort of tugging. Suddenly, she was pulled backward into Sans. He wrapped his arms wrap around her torso.

“actually,” he started.

“Whoa. Hold on. Pause. Did you just do that? Pull me backward?”

“heh. yeah.”

“What else can you do?”

Instead of answering, Sans released Avery and lifted his left arm up. Avery felt the tugging in her chest change and her feet slowly lift off the ground.

“Holy fuck. This is amazing. I definitely picked the right skeleton to fuck.”

Avery’s feet dropped back to the floor heavily. “what’s that ‘sposed to mean?” Sans asked.

Avery giggled. “The whole telekinesis thing? That can one-hundred percent be used in the bedroom.”

“huh. speaking of which,” Sans murmured as he grabbed back onto Avery. She blinked, confused. They were no longer in the kitchen.

“Wha-. Can you TELEPORT, too?”

“yep. welcome to my room.”

“What the fuck. That’s amazing.”

“heheheh. thanks.”

Avery bit her lip. This was really happening. “Sans, do you want to do this?”

“monsters literally don’t have a refractory period.”

Avery snorted. “No, bonehead. I mean do you want to have sex with ME? For your first time?”

“hey, better you than a stranger at a bar. plus, i feel like at this point we might as well.”

“You have a point there,” Avery said as Sans stumbled over to his bed.

“do _you_ want to do this?”

“I feel like I shouldn’t have to answer that.”

“i just mean… promise me you won’t regret it, ok?”

Avery bit her lip. That was a hell of a promise to make. But she knew she wasn’t getting any further until she agreed. “I promise.” Sans smiled, seemingly satisfied. As Avery laid down next to him, he kissed her. With… lips? Avery decided not to question it, not when things were about to get really interesting. _Ok_ , she thought. _Here we go._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you skipped this chapter, here's the rundown: The gang plays "never have I ever," we discover Sans is a virgin, Avery decides to change that like the messy bitch she is.
> 
> Next chapter will hopefully be out Wednesday or Thursday.
> 
> Follow my tumblr! @spacegirl-kali
> 
> Any and all fanart is welcome :)


	8. Breakfast at Pappy's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Avery breaks her promise almost immediately after making it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MAN. DID YOU THINK I ABANDONED THIS FIC? I almost did. Life got a little crazy there for a while, but I hope I can get back to uploading somewhat regularly. I have big plans for this story. I can't promise I'll be able to get back to posting once a week, but I hope that someday soon I'll be able to. Thanks for everyone who's been reading and commenting and leaving kudos on this piece, it really helps me stay motivated to finish it.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I will *try* to have the next one up by the end of next week.

_Oh, fuck, ow._ Avery awoke to a dull throbbing in her skull. She knew she’d taken more than a couple shots last night, but there was no way she deserved _this_. Groaning, she pawed at her nightstand, trying to grab her clock.

But her clock was not there. Avery’s eyes fluttered open. _Oh, double fuck._ This was not her room. She sat up as quickly as she could manage with her stomach doing alcohol-induced flip-flops, and took in her surroundings. Messy floor. Her Halloween costume in a pile on the ground. Suddenly, the events of last night came rushing back. Avery glanced at the figure sleeping on the other side of the bed.

 _Fuck. Ok. Make a plan._ How had this happened? Avery had meant to sleep on the couch. But now she was in bed with a skeleton. Not just any skeleton, one that she was… friends with. Kind of. They really hadn’t known each other very long. Regardless, there was no getting out of this without making it weird. If she left without saying anything, it’d definitely put a strain on their forming friendship. But waiting for Sans to wake up sounded like an equally terrible idea. She wasn't ready to confront him about any of this. If Avery was still there when Sans woke up he’d want to talk to her, maybe even get breakfast. Avery winced. No, she needed to leave. Especially before anyone else saw her.

She turned her head to look at Sans. He lay on his side, facing away from her. He looked kind of cute sleeping there. Last night had certainly been an experience, but... Sans didn’t seem like the kind of guy to get attached. Maybe nothing would change. Maybe this wouldn’t turn out to have been a mistake.

Creeping out of bed as quietly as humanly possible, Avery scooped up her clothes. She was not looking forward to putting that latex back on, but taking some of Sans’s clothes felt wrong. Papyrus would certainly offer her some, but she would have to sneak over to his room in a way that made it seem like she was coming up from downstairs. Avery grimaced. No, that was too risky. She sighed and began to pull the costume back on.

“heya.”

Avery squeaked at the sound of Sans’s voice. _Fuck, ok. Act normal._

“Oh, hey. Um, good morning Sans.”

“good morning. you headin’ out?” His voice was low and gravely with sleep.

“Yeah, I have to get home before, uh…” Avery panicked. It was a Saturday. “Before it gets too hot for me to go on a run.” Amazing, she’d picked the world’s worst excuse.

“didn’t know you ran.” Uh oh. There was a twinge of suspicion in his voice now. He wasn’t buying it. Sans sat up in the bed, rubbing his eye sockets. “and i have no clue how you plan on running after how much you drank last night.”

 _Shit._ Avery turned towards him and forced a smile. “I at least have to try!”  _God, I sound like a Zumba instructor._

Sans looked her over, obviously not believing a word she was saying. “sure.” He paused. “that looks really uncomfortable. you wanna borrow something to wear?”

Avery sighed and sat back down on the bed, peeling the latex back off. It _was_ super uncomfortable. “Yeah, that would be really nice.”

Sans rolled out of bed and stretched, bones making little popping sounds as he did so. Avery watched as he pulled out a pair of shorts for himself, and some sweats for her. Sunlight was just beginning to stream in through the windows, and Avery had to admire the sort of beauty he had. Most monsters Avery found rather picturesque, but there was something about sitting only a few feet away from a naked skeleton…

“here.” Avery jumped as Sans’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.

“Thank you, Sans.”

“no problem.” He paused again. “since, uh, there’s absolutely no way you’re really going for a run, would you want to stay for breakfast?”

Avery sighed. She was too hungover to think of another excuse. “Yeah, that sounds good.” Avery pulled on the sweats Sans had provided for her. They had the same old book smell as his hoodie did, which reminded Avery that she had yet to return it.

“Oh, Sans! I still have your hoodie!”

“’s ok. hold on to it however long ya want. i’ve got a couple others,” he said as he pulled out an army green one. It was identical to his blue one except for the color. He slipped it on. “i’ll meet you downstairs.”

Avery nodded and exited the room, shutting the door behind her.

“Howdy.”

“Oh, fuck!” Avery jumped at the voice. “Jeez, Jess, that’s the second time you scared me like that.”

Jessica giggled. “Sorry. So, what are you doing here so early?”

Avery froze up. “Oh, um. I guess I must have passed out last night. Took a few to many, if you know what I mean.” She gave Jessica the most convincing grin she could manage.

Jessica raised an eyebrow. “You passed out in Sans’s room?”

“No!” Avery said a little too quickly. “I mean; someone must have carried me there. After I fell asleep.”

“Right,” said Jessica with a twinge of skepticism.

“What about you? Why are you here so early?”

“Dropping Frisk back off. I have a paper to write this weekend, so Paps is looking after them for me.”

“Well, uh, good luck with that!” Avery desperately tried to think of something else to say. “When you’re done we could like, get lunch sometime.”

Jessica’s eyes widened a bit at that. “Um, sure. Yeah, we can do that.”

“Cool!” Avery gave her one more forced smile before heading down the stairs. _Lunch?_ Why had she invited her to lunch? She hardly knew Jessica. Maybe this would be a way for Avery to get to know the other adult human in the group a bit better. She groaned. Her head was pounding way too hard for this shit.

And it hurt way too bad for her to deal with Papyrus.

“OH! HELLO, AVERY! I HAD ASSUMED YOU HAD ALREADY LEFT!” Papyrus was standing at the stove top, cooking something in a pan. “I AM MAKING SOME EGGS IF YOU WANT SOME. I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO COOK UP MOST OF THE SALVAGEABLE FOOD IN THE FRIDGE BEFORE IT GOES BAD.”

Avery winced. She had all but forgotten about the fridge incident. “Right. Sorry about that, Paps. Yeah, I could use some eggs.” At this point, Avery’s plan to escape unnoticed was ruined anyway. She might as well get some hangover food out of it.

“DID YOU FIND THE COUCH TO BE COMFORTABLE ENOUGH?”

 _Oh no_. Should she lie? She had to. “Yeah! It was great, thank you for letting me stay here.”

Papyrus smiled. “OF COURSE. YOU’RE ALWAYS WELCOME IN OUR HOME.”

Avery returned the smile, the first genuine smile of the day. “You’re too good to me, Paps.”

He shrugged. “PERHAPS. DID YOU HAVE FUN AT MY PARTY?”

“Yeah! One of the best parties I’ve ever been to!”

Papyrus set the pan down and turned off the stove, before pulling up a seat next to Avery.

“…DID YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT I TOLD YOU LAST NIGHT?” He "whispered."

Avery sighed. She had done more than just think about it. “Yeah,” she said. “But I think I need to think about it some more, y’know?” Which was the truth. Avery needed some time to sort out her feelings. Last night, when she had been drunk, she was so sure she was making the right decision. But this morning when she had woken up in Sans’s bed, all she could focus on was the terrible pit that had formed in her stomach.

Papyrus nodded. “I UNDERSTAND. I HOPE THAT YOUR FRIENDSHIP WITH SANS DOES NOT SUFFER BECAUSE OF THIS INFORMATION.”

Avery placed a hand on Papyrus’s shoulder. “It won’t, Paps. Everything’s gonna be good.” She said it so genuinely she almost believed it herself.

Papyrus nodded before returning to the stove.

“HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS?”

“Over-hard, please. I hate runny yolks.”

“you’ve got to be yolkin’, runny eggs are the best,” said Sans as he entered the kitchen.

“YOU DON’T EVEN LIKE EGGS, SANS,” Papyrus said without turning from his cooking, blatantly ignoring Sans’s pun.

“hey, maybe i’ll try ‘em today. really break out of my _shell.”_

Avery giggled. “Ok, that one was actually terrible.”

Sans gave her a sleepy smile. “so then why are you laughing?”

They continued to banter while Papyrus finished up breakfast, and Avery felt a weight melt off her shoulders. Nothing felt different or weird. Just some pals eating breakfast together next to a blowjob-induced refrigerator explosion. Totally normal. Avery checked the time.

“Oh, shit. I really do need to get going. Is Undyne still here?”

“nah, she dipped out at some ungodly hour. alphys, too.”

Avery decided not to ask how he knew that when he'd still been sleeping. “Shoot, ok. She wants to hang out today and start planning some attacks on HUMAN.”

Papyrus grimaced. “AVERY, I KNOW YOU THINK YOU OWE IT TO US TO DO THIS, BUT NOBODY WOULD BE MAD IF YOU BACKED OUT.”

“I know that, Paps. Which is exactly why I need to do this. None of you deserve the shit they’re pushing, and if I can help make the world a better place for monsters, I’m going to do whatever it takes.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Avery could see Sans smile a little wider.

“I UNDERSTAND. IF YOU EVER NEED ANYTHING, YOU CAN ALWAYS COME TO SANS AND ME.”

“we got your back, kid.”

There was something in Sans’s voice that Avery didn’t recognize. He sounded almost a little sad.

“You alright, Sans?” She looked to meet his eyes for the first time this morning.

“yeah, stuff like this just reminds me a little of frisk. they were the same way, willing to do whatever it took to help us.”

“Well, hey, that worked out pretty great in the end, didn’t it?”

Sans dropped his gaze to the floor. “in the end, yeah.”

Avery frowned at his cryptic wording. She knew Frisk had gone through some shit in the Underground, but it almost felt like Sans was referencing something else. Avery wondered if there was more to Sans and Frisk’s relationship than either of them let on.

“Thank you so much for breakfast, Paps. I feel slightly less like death now.”

“OF COURSE! GOOD LUCK PLANNING THE DESTRUCTION OF YOUR FAMILY’S BUSINESS!”

Avery winced at the wording. “Ha, yeah. I’ll, uh, see you soon,” she said as she began to make her way to the door.

“see ya tomorrow.”

Avery stopped in her tracks. “Tomorrow?”

“karaoke night at Mettaton’s new mall business thing.”

“Oh, right. See you then!” Avery walked through the front door before either of them could get another word in, suddenly feeling panicky. She was a dirty liar trying to pretend that nothing was weird. Eating with the brothers alone wasn’t a big deal, but the thought of being with Sans in public made her heart pound with anxiety. It would be defining, how she acted around him in front of others. If she played it off like nothing had changed, she would be setting a precedent. If she acted like they were a couple, they would probably end up a couple. Both options were equally nausea-inducing. Avery pulled out her phone and dialed Undyne.

“Hey.”

“Hey, punk! Ready for me to head over?”

“Yeah, I’m walking home now.”

There was a short pause on the other end of the line. “You don’t sound ok.”

Avery sighed into the phone. “I’m not. Would it be ok if we put this on hold for another day? I don’t think I’m up for scheming right now.”

“’Course! But I'm still coming over.”

“Why?”

“Sounds like you need a friend. I’ll be over in a second.”

Undyne hung up before Avery could respond. She quickened her pace. If Undyne said she would be over in a second, Avery was sure she meant it literally. _Shoot._ Avery had no idea what she was going to tell Undyne. The truth? Undyne wasn’t exactly the quietest person, but Avery had a feeling she could trust her to keep this one to herself. At the same time, Avery wasn’t sure she wanted to rehash the evening so soon. All she really wanted to do was curl up into a ball and sleep her headache away.

By the time Avery reached her dorm building, Undyne was already waiting outside, foot tapping impatiently.

“Hey.” Undyne’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet.

“Hey.” Avery brushed passed her to unlock the stairway door. The two padded up the stairs silently.

“So, uh,” said Undyne when they reached Avery’s room. “I think I have an idea of what happened last night and why you’re upset.”

 _Fuck._ Did everyone already know?

“Um, what exactly do you think happened?”

Undyne flopped down on Avery’s futon, patting the cushion next to her. Avery sat beside her, hands clasped in her lap uncomfortably.

“Well,” Undyne started. “It wasn’t too hard to put two and two together. The blast in the fridge, the way you were both acting weird and jittery when Papyrus and I came to check it out… Not to mention the crazy hormones I was picking up.”

“Shit, is it really that obvious?”

“Yeah. I hope you’re ok.”

Avery sighed. “I am, things are just really weird between Sans and I now.”

Undyne nodded. “It might feel like that now, but I’m sure it’ll be ok. Sans isn’t one to hold a grudge. He’ll probably forget about the whole thing in a day or two.”

Avery scrunched up her face in confusion. “I mean, I don’t know about you, but I pretty clearly remember when I lost MY virginity.”

“Yeah I- I’m sorry, WHAT?” Undyne choked on her words so hard that Avery thought her eyes were going to pop right out of her head. “WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED LAST NIGHT?”

There was her normal volume.

Avery sputtered for a second before speaking. “I, uh, was that not what you were thinking?”

“No! I thought you guys just got in a fight or something!”

“Why would we hide the fact that we got in a fight!?”

Undyne threw her arms up above her head. “I don’t know! For our sake?”

“And why would fighting cause there to be ‘crazy hormones?’”

“Fighting can do that! I’ve seen it before!”

“Undyne, that doesn’t make any sense.”

Undyne grabbed Avery by her shoulders “YOU don’t make any sense!”

“What do you even mean by that?”

“I MEAN I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU SLEPT WITH SANS!”

Avery opened her mouth before decisively snapping it shut again. Undyne released her shoulders and slumped back into the futon.

“That is…” Undyne started to say. Avery braced herself. “The COOLEST fucking thing I’ve ever heard.”

Avery sat forward abruptly. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I’ve never seen that guy interested in anything for more than three minutes,” Undyne continued. “He said it himself even, that he was straight up TOO LAZY to lose his virginity. Yet somehow you got him to pay attention to you long enough to fuck him.”

“I-I don’t think it’s that crazy.”

“No, Avery, it is. Listen, you don’t know Sans like we all do. The guy can fall asleep during literally anything. You could probably put a knife to his throat and he’d still find a way to pass out.”

“Jesus.”

“Nothing holds his interest. Except you, I guess.”

Avery felt her cheeks flush. “It wasn’t a big deal. I don’t think it really meant anything to him.”

Undyne shrugged. “I won’t pretend I know how to read the guy. Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t. Sans is kind of unpredictable sometimes.”

The two sat in silence for a moment. Avery stared at the floor.

 “I can’t go to karaoke night tomorrow.”

The fins on Undyne’s head twitched back in shock. “What? Why?”

“I can’t be with everyone. I can’t be with him. Not right now, anyway.”

Undyne rubbed the back of her neck.  “Do you regret it?”

A beat. Avery meditated on the question.

“Yeah. I think I do.”

“Oof.”

“Oof is right.”

Suddenly, Undyne enveloped Avery in a tight hug. “Listen to me,” she said. “It’s all gonna be ok. No matter what happens with Sans, you still got me.”

Avery smiled. “Thanks, Undyne.”

Undyne released Avery from her arms and looked her right in the eye. “But you are NOT missing karaoke night. Let me make a phone call real quick.”

Before Avery could protest, Undyne was already pacing around the room with her cell pressed against her ear.

“Hey, Alph. Could you do me a quick favor? Avery’s not feeling up to karaoke tomorrow.”

Avery could barely hear Alphy’s high-pitched response on the other end of the line.

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Undyne continued. “He wouldn’t listen to me, but I think he’d do it for you. Thanks, babe. Love you.” _Click._

“What was that all about?”

“Turn on the TV.”

Avery cocked her head in confusion but obeyed.

“Put it on the MTT channel,” Undyne continued.

Avery hit the buttons on the remote and Mettaton popped up on the screen, faux-sadness apparent on his face.

“It is with a heavy heart,” he was saying with his hand to his forehead. “That I must announce the postponement of the MTT Shopping Center Grand Opening for another two weeks.”

Avery whipped around to face Undyne. “You got him to postpone it for me? For two whole weeks?”

Undyne gave her a big smile. “Heck yeah! Well, Alphys got him to. I hope that’s enough time.”

Avery practically tackled her in a bear hug. “I can’t believe you did that for me.”

“I know what it’s like.” She paused for a second. “Needing time, I mean.”

Avery wondered what she meant by that, but decided not to press the matter. Seemed like a wound that was still healing.

“Well, I still really appreciate it.”

“No problem, punk.”

“Hey, I really really need a nap, but after that do ya wanna get scheming?”

Undyne visibly perked up at that. “Heck yeah!”

“Perfect. You can chill in here if you want. Wake me up in an hour?”

“Gotcha. Sleep tight, punk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next update, you'll get to see this lovely situation unfold~
> 
> Avery: Everything is going to go right back to normal!  
> Narrator: Nothing went back to normal.
> 
>  
> 
> Follow me on tumblr! @spacegirl-kali  
> ...  
> Please I'm starved for human contact


	9. Falin Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally meet Avery's brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I apologize for this horribly late update, college has been kicking my butt. Luckily, winter break is in a few weeks so I can get back to churning out chapters. Hopefully I can get a little ahead and maintain a better posting schedule. Thank you to all of you for continuing reading despite the big breaks, I really really appreciate it :)

“So, I have a couple questions.”

Avery took a deep breath. This was it. After she told Undyne what she knew, there was no turning back. “Ok. I’m ready.”

“…What was it like?” Undyne’s face was creased with curiosity.

“Well, it wasn’t good, I can tell you that.”

Undyne giggled. “Damn, that’s cold! I can’t believe you’re so nonchalant about it!”

Avery cocked her head in confusion. “What do you _think_ it was like growing up with controlling, hateful, racist parents?”

“Parents? OH! Right,” Undyne said sheepishly. “Sorry, I got off track.”

Avery furrowed her brows. “Did you think I was talking about Sans?”

“Well, duh! I still can’t wrap my head around it.”

“Undyne! We’re supposed to be plotting the downfall of my parent’s anti-monster cult thing and all you can think about is the fact that Sans and I had sex?”

Undyne slung her arm around Avery’s shoulder. “I can’t help it! It’s SO WEIRD!”

“Ugh,” said Avery as she shimmied out from under Undyne’s arm. “I told you I didn’t really want to talk about it.”

“Actually, all you said was that you needed time before you saw him again.”

“Ok, well, read between the lines.” Avery crossed her arms in an attempt to convey anger, but that was always hard to do with Undyne. She never meant any harm, Avery knew that. Undyne was just so damn excited about everything all the time.

Undyne looked at the floor for a second. “So… WAS it good?’

Avery suppressed a giggle and feigned shock. “UNDYNE! It was ok, I guess.”

“Did he know what he was doing?”

“He knew… enough.”

Undyne leaned in closer. “Did he--.”

“Undyne!” Avery cut her off. “This is not why we’re here!” As much as Avery was dreading talking about her family, she was desperate to change the subject.

Undyne flopped deeper into the futon. “I know, I know. Well, I do expect more details at a later date then.”

“Deal.”

“Ok. So where do we start?”

Avery raised one finger in the air. “We start… Uh… Actually, I’m not too sure where to start.”

“Uh, what do you know about HUMAN?”

“That’s the thing, I don’t know THAT much. I mean, I know how they produce and distribute their propaganda.”

“But that’s not the issue here.”

“Right.”

Undyne and Avery both sat in thought for a moment. “Well,” Undyne started. “Why don’t you tell me about how they manufacture propaganda? And we can go from there.”

“Ok.” Avery sat up a little straighter. “They try to put out SOMETHING once a week. There’s this website they run, it’s basically like a fake news site. Nobody else knows that HUMAN runs it. They find articles and stuff about bad things monsters have done and re-publish them, tweaking them to make monsters sound as evil as possible. And then they contact reputable news organizations anonymously and get them to cover it.”

“Jesus.”

Avery nodded. “That’s not even the worst part. If it’s a slow week, they have contacts in the police department. They find a desperate monster and offer them A LOT of money to commit some sort of crime, and promise to keep them out of any real trouble. The police arrest them and then HUMAN pays their contact off to let whatever monster is involved go. So not only do they get a good ‘monsters are evil’ article out of it, but they’ve gained the trust of the poorer monster community.”

Undyne stared at Avery, wide-eyed. “That’s absolutely disgusting.” Her voice contained a guttural rage. “I can’t believe they just… GET AWAY with that shit. No wonder humans are so afraid of us.”

“Yeah.” Avery stared down at the floor. “I’m… really sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

Avery’s voice cracked with her words. “I should’ve done something sooner. I never realized how horrible it was until I said it out loud.”

Undyne frowned. “Well, I’m not gonna tell you it’s ok, ‘cause it’s not. But I’m not gonna hold a grudge, either.”

Avery felt the pinprick of a tear stinging the corner of her eye. How could Undyne be so calm? How could the girl who was always full of fury and passion be so passive?

“Why? Why are all of you so forgiving?”

Undyne shrugged. “I used to have an ‘all humans must die’ attitude. I changed. If I can change, so can you.”

“I never wanted to hurt anyone.”

“I know. I didn’t either.”

Avery wiped away her tears and forced a smile. “I’m going to make this right.”

Undyne returned Avery’s smile with her signature grin. “ _We’re_ going to make this right.”

Avery nodded. She knew the monsters didn’t need a human to be their savior. Undyne and the rest of them could take care of themselves better than any human Avery could think of. But she knew she could help. She wanted to help more than anything.

“I think I might know someone we could call.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Avery sucked in a breath. “I have an older brother. His name is Connor. He took off when I was younger, probably because he figured out how shitty our family was before I did. But he always kept in touch with me, made sure I was ok.”

“And you think he could help?”

Avery nodded. “Last time I talked to him, he told me he was working on a big project. I have a hunch that it might be related to HUMAN.”

“Well, let’s give him a call!”

Avery sat silent for a moment, rubbing her thumbs together. “It’s… a bit more complicated than that.”

Undyne furrowed her brows. “Why?”

“Last time we talked wasn’t exactly pleasant. He wanted me to help him.”

“I’m assuming you said no.”

Avery dropped her eyes to the floor. “Yeah.”

Undyne gave Avery a reassuring smile. “Hey, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

Avery nodded. “Ok, yeah. You’re probably right. So I guess I’ll just…” She picked up her cell phone and opened up her contacts, staring at the screen before clicking on a name.

_Dialing Connor Falin…_

…

…

…

“Little sister!” A voice rang through the phone’s speakers. “Knew you couldn’t stay mad at me forever.”

Avery couldn’t help but crack a smile upon hearing her brother’s enthusiasm. “Hey, Connor. How are ya, man?” Avery’s voice picked up a more cheerful tone.

“Pretty great now that I’m hearing from you!”

“Jeez, Ave,” said Undyne. “Your brother sounds like a game show host.”

There was a beat of silence on the other end of the line.

“Am I on speaker?”

“Uh, yeah,” Avery said quickly. “I’m with my friend Undyne. She’s-.”

“HOE. LEE. FUCK.” Connor shouted. “Undyne? Like _the_ Undyne?”

Avery shot Undyne a quizzical look. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Connor scoffed. “She’s only one of the most famous monsters ever! She’s a badass guardswoman that helped free the Underground!”

Undyne nodded proudly at Avery before taking the phone. “That sure sounds like me!”

Laughter echoed on the other line. “So, what gives me the pleasure of speaking with the magnificent Undyne?”

“It’s, uh, actually about your parents.”

Connor sighed. “Ah. Yes. I’m sure you’ve heard about their _great_ new development.”

“Yeah,” said Avery, leaning over the phone. “I want to help the monsters stop them.”

A laugh loud enough to make Avery flinch echoed on the other end. “Finally! I knew you’d come around and join the team sooner or later, Ave. You’ve got too good a heart to stick with the ‘rents.”

Avery smiled and opened her mouth to speak, but Connor cut her off.

“So,” he continued. “This is something I’ve actually been working on myself. Don’t you think it’s a little weird that Mom and Dad are making targeted weapons without any kind of legal blockers? Imagine if a company made weapons targeted to a specific human ethnicity or race. People would RIOT.”

“Yeah, that is a little weird.”

“Well, the reason they can do so easily is that monsters technically don’t have personhood in the eyes of the law. Right now, they have literally no legal rights.”

“WHAT?” Undyne yelled. “So what _are_ we in the ‘eyes of the law’ then?”

“Something equivalent to domesticated animals. This is the legal equivalent of selling rat poison.”

“NGAHHHHHHH!” Avery grabbed the phone from Undyne before she could throw it across the room.

“Ha. That’s pretty much how I feel about it, too,” Connor said in a slightly more downbeat tone. “I’m working with some lawyers right now to take this to court. Pro-bono, mind you.”

“What do you mean by taking this to court?” asked Avery.

“I mean, take our parents to court. Present a case to grant personhood to monsters, shut their whole organization down.”

“HELL YEAH!” Shouted Undyne.

Avery bit her lip. As much as she wanted to help her friends… Taking her parents to court? That was extreme.

“But… Mom and Dad…”

“Listen, Avery. There was a time when I felt the same way. I know to you they aren’t evil. Hell, they aren’t evil to me, either. At the end of the day, everybody _thinks_ they’re doing the right thing. It’s just that some of us are wrong about what the right thing is. Mom and Dad are wrong. I believe that with every ounce of my soul. If we let them keep thinking they’re right, innocent people will get hurt. Innocent people will _die._ We have the power to stop that. Avery, I need you to do the right thing. Not for me, for them.”

Avery was silent so long that Undyne bent over to look at her. Tears welled in her eyes but didn’t spill over. She squeezed the phone tight in her hand.

“You’re right,” she said at last, voice barely cracking. “I’ll… I’ll help you. In any way I can.”

“Yeah, me too,” said Undyne.

“Ok. Ok good.” Connor said, relieved. “That leaves one more matter to discuss.”

“What’s that?” Avery asked.

“I want to take this public. HUMAN has money, they have better lawyers. If we leave them to their own devices, there’s no way we’d win this case. But if we can get enough people angry, we’ll have a fighting chance.”

“OK, sounds easy enough. How are you going to announce it?”

“That’s the thing. Avery, I want _you_ to announce it.”

“What?”  Avery blurted. “ _Me?_ Why?”

“People don’t know who I am. I distanced myself so much from our parents that nobody will care about my opinion. But _you,_ you’re their darling. All the interviews, all the pictures in the paper of you and them, we can weaponize them. If the Falin’s beautiful daughter Avery turns against her own parents, why should anyone else support them?”

Avery took a breath. This felt like another punch in the gut. But out of the corner of her eye, she could see Undyne nodding along to Connor’s words. It was a good plan.

“I could release that video.”

Undyne looked at her quizzically. “What video?”

“The one of you standing up to Kat for me. My Mom heard about it and got it taken down before it could get out that I was palin’ around with a bunch of monsters. We could re-post it, along with a video of me explaining that Undyne was protecting me. Paint her as some sort of hero.”

Undyne grinned. “I like that idea.”

“Perfect!” Said Connor. “Absolutely perfect, Ave.”

“The, uh, only thing is I don’t exactly _have_ the video. And I have no clue who posted it.”

“Hmmm, ok. You said Mom was the one who got it taken down?”

Avery nodded. “That’s right.”

“I’d bet you a hundred dollars she kept a copy of it somewhere.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Mom’s the kind of person that likes to keep a record of everything.”

“Yeah, that’s true. So what, you’re gonna hack into her computer or something and get it?”

Connor scoffed. “Absolutely not. We’re trying to win a legal case here, it’s a bad idea to start off with computer hacking. I’m afraid that’s going to fall on you, Ave.”

“How the hell am I going to do that?”

“Hey, Mom still thinks you’re on their side, right? At the very least they don’t see you as a threat. Maybe, uh, pay the ‘rents a friendly visit.”

“Ugh.” Avery really did NOT want to do that, but Connor had a point. It was the best way. “Alright. Give me a week to prepare?”

“That’s fair. Keep in touch, ok? I miss you.”

Avery smiled softly. “I miss you too, bro. I’ll call you when I’m ready to start.”

“Until then, sis.” _Click._

Avery slumped back in the futon again, Undyne did the same.

“Oh man.”

“Yeah.”

They sat in silence for a moment, until Undyne cleared her throat.

“Well, now that we got that sorted out, we can focus on the pressing issue.”

“Right. Let’s talk about how we get that video from my mom.”

“What? No no no, we can do that later.”

“UNDYNE. NO. We are not talking about--.”

“Oh, we are DEFINITELY talking about Sans.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Speaking of Sans...
> 
> I wonder what he's up to?
> 
> Follow me on tumblr! @spacegirl-kali


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